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1823 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Olbers%2527_paradox/e32MuC24">Olbers' paradox</a> is described by the <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">German</a> <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> <a href="/facts/Heinrich_Wilhelm_Matth%25C3%25A4us_Olbers/KgvJSXxD">Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Cambridge_Observatory/w3cQeXwU">Cambridge Observatory</a> established in <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">England</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li> <li>December 29 – <a href="/facts/Great_Comet_of_1823/4nKC6SYJ">Great Comet of 1823</a> first observed.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li>June 17 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Macintosh/1RPQpG4P">Charles Macintosh</a> <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patents</a> a method of rubberizing fabric to waterproof it.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li>February 20 – <a href="/facts/James_Weddell/IpWwsosS">James Weddell</a>'s expedition to <a href="/facts/Antarctica/bEM5Lem5">Antarctica</a> reaches <a href="/facts/Latitude/IBYqkjhU">latitude</a> 74°15' S and <a href="/facts/Longitude/HsC61ML9">longitude</a> 34°16'45" W, the most southerly position that will be attained for more than 80 years.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/J%25C3%25A1nos_Bolyai/JeXBranr">János Bolyai</a> completes a treatise on <a href="/facts/Parallel_lines/16r5yq7D">parallel lines</a> that he calls <a href="/facts/Absolute_geometry/ABKfjdn2">absolute geometry</a>, although it will not be published until 1832.</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li>After August – <a href="/facts/Philipp_Franz_von_Siebold/eCkajlk7">Philipp Franz von Siebold</a> begins to introduce Western medicine to Japan.</li> <li>October 5 – <i><a href="/facts/The_Lancet/UYtU5P4P">The Lancet</a></i> founded by <a href="/facts/Thomas_Wakley/mxh6qBVm">Thomas Wakley</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Theodric_Romeyn_Beck/f4AEpIgY">Theodric Romeyn Beck</a> publishes the first significant American book on <a href="/facts/Forensic_medicine/f3eHy8W6">forensic medicine</a>, <i>Elements of Medical Jurisprudence</i> in <a href="/facts/Albany%2c_New_York/A4p7Ugnt">Albany, New York</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="paleontology">Paleontology</h2> <ul><li>January 23 – In a cave on the <a href="/facts/Gower_Peninsula/jH7bsbzz">Gower Peninsula</a> of <a href="/facts/Wales/xa3W6PHH">Wales</a>, <a href="/facts/William_Buckland/r72jWhR0">William Buckland</a> inspects the "<a href="/facts/Red_Lady_of_Paviland/fC2GhIfj">Red Lady of Paviland</a>", the first identification of a prehistoric (male) human burial. The bones, discovered on December 21 last, are with those of the woolly <a href="/facts/Mammoth/k9MnxS2k">mammoth</a>, proving that the two had coexisted, although Buckland dates th human remains as Roman.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li>December 10 – On the <a href="/facts/Jurassic_Coast/2aYe34DM">Jurassic Coast</a> of southern England, <a href="/facts/Mary_Anning/FptgkPFB">Mary Anning</a> finds the first complete <i><a href="/facts/Plesiosaurus/qPEarERp">Plesiosaurus</a></i> skeleton.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="physics">Physics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/William_Sturgeon/pQEK9pDB">William Sturgeon</a> invents the <a href="/facts/Electromagnet/3YMYtSMX">electromagnet</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>December 6 – English inventor <a href="/facts/Samuel_Brown_(engineer)/sajuRRfV">Samuel Brown</a> obtains his first <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for a hydrogen fuelled compressionless atmospheric gas vacuum engine,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> the first <a href="/facts/History_of_the_internal_combustion_engine/68Rca6VN">internal combustion engine</a> to be applied industrially.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li>First use of a <a href="/facts/Fresnel_lens/WYbDj3sn">Fresnel lens</a> in a <a href="/facts/Lighthouse/HAwW4RFW">lighthouse</a> optic, at the <a href="/facts/Cordouan_lighthouse/aFqqn85V">Cordouan lighthouse</a> on the <a href="/facts/Gironde_estuary/thEov7Vt">Gironde estuary</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>First permanent <a href="/facts/Wire/yyy05H1S">wire</a> <a href="/facts/Wire_rope/9z4b9SYB">cable</a> <a href="/facts/Suspension_bridge/FoDavMf8">suspension bridge</a>, Pont Saint Antoine in <a href="/facts/Geneva/14gXxjcq">Geneva</a>, by <a href="/facts/Guillaume_Henri_Dufour/6Aq2DXCo">Guillaume Henri Dufour</a>, of two 40 m spans.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>First <a href="/facts/Cast_iron/lASt55k2">cast iron</a> framed <a href="/facts/Greenhouse/VBHMUgfM">greenhouse</a> erected at <a href="/facts/Wollaton_Park/NBafwS2n">Wollaton Park</a> in England as a <i><a href="/facts/Camellia/xGUWY6UY">Camellia</a></i> house.</li> <li>French officer <a href="/facts/Henri-Joseph_Paixhans/du4TDr3w">Henri-Joseph Paixhans</a> develops the <a href="/facts/Paixhans_gun/ku3z6Bvq">Paixhans gun</a>, the first <a href="/facts/Naval_artillery/g5WabhqU">naval artillery</a> to fire explosive <a href="/facts/Shell_(projectile)/a51oDRdu">shells</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="publications">Publications</h2> <ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Annals_of_the_New_York_Academy_of_Sciences/ThS2KRMa">Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</a></i> first published.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/John_Pond/jCR5t3hN">John Pond</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 3 – <a href="/facts/Robert_Whitehead/VJeGuC9r">Robert Whitehead</a> (died <a href="/facts/1905_in_science/L89WrSLG">1905</a>), <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> inventor of the self-propelled <a href="/facts/Torpedo/RLLPpktk">torpedo</a>.</li> <li>January 8 – <a href="/facts/Alfred_Russel_Wallace/bMvvalao">Alfred Russel Wallace</a> (died <a href="/facts/1913_in_science/6nl9Anqy">1913</a>), <a href="/facts/British_people/xn7cqlzV">British</a> <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a> who devises the theory of <a href="/facts/Natural_selection/JXTte6en">natural selection</a> at the same time as <a href="/facts/Charles_Darwin/uwDLGItY">Charles Darwin</a>.</li> <li>February 3 – <a href="/facts/Spencer_Fullerton_Baird/vRk3d92B">Spencer Fullerton Baird</a> (died <a href="/facts/1887_in_science/3TPmT9t4">1887</a>), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> <a href="/facts/Ornithologist/5reEUbx1">ornithologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Ichthyologist/S2MCul1h">ichthyologist</a>.</li> <li>March 21 – <a href="/facts/Jules_%25C3%2589mile_Planchon/N1Dam4fE">Jules Émile Planchon</a> (died <a href="/facts/1888_in_science/fyVznYuU">1888</a>), <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a>.</li> <li>December 22 – <a href="/facts/Jean_Henri_Fabre/SYXMRUzm">Jean Henri Fabre</a> (died <a href="/facts/1915_in_science/NMYGub5y">1915</a>), French <a href="/facts/Entomologist/zTtUNTWm">entomologist</a>.</li> <li>December 23 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_W._Evans/XAg1Ggdc">Thomas W. Evans</a> (died <a href="/facts/1897_in_science/1IcNGmU5">1897</a>), American-born <a href="/facts/Dentist/mNfpJUen">dentist</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>January 26 – <a href="/facts/Edward_Jenner/sXRNEXef">Edward Jenner</a> (born <a href="/facts/1749_in_science/IINcTscJ">1749</a>), English inventor of <a href="/facts/Vaccine/QcXzLug2">vaccine</a>.</li> <li>January 27 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Hutton/F5vQW23a">Charles Hutton</a> (born <a href="/facts/1737_in_science/0gEovxnm">1737</a>), English <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>February 9 – <a href="/facts/Agnes_Ibbetson/16FSUCp3">Agnes Ibbetson</a> (born <a href="/facts/1757_in_science/Cg8EY0w0">1757</a>), English plant physiologist.</li> <li>September 23 – <a href="/facts/Matthew_Baillie/Y1tjHPuq">Matthew Baillie</a> (born <a href="/facts/1761_in_science/w0nj7xGb">1761</a>), British <a href="/facts/Pathologist/U9b18LJG">pathologist</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Stratton, F. J. M. (1949). "The History of the Cambridge Observatories". Annals of the Solar Physics Observatory, Cambridge. 1. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Prosser, R. B. (2004). "Macintosh, Charles (1766–1843)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17541. Retrieved 2011-04-23. (subscription or UK public library membership required) <a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17541" target="_blank">http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17541</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Aldhouse-Green, Stephen (October 2001). "Great Sites: Paviland Cave". British Archaeology (61). Archived from the original on 2006-02-28. Retrieved 2010-07-16. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060228141222/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba61/feat3.shtml" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20060228141222/http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba61/feat3.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Torrens, Hugh (1995). "Mary Anning (1799–1847) of Lyme; 'The Greatest Fossilist the World Ever Knew'". The British Journal for the History of Science. 25 (3): 257–284. doi:10.1017/s0007087400033161. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0007087400033161" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fs0007087400033161</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Gill, T. (1826). The Technical Repository, p. 383. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Hardenberg, Horst O. (1992). Samuel Morey and his atmospheric engine. SP-922. Warrendale, Pa.: Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 1-56091-240-5. <a href="1-56091-240-5" target="_blank">1-56091-240-5</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Watson, Bruce (August 1999). "Science Makes a Better Lighthouse Lens". Smithsonian. 30: 30. <a href="/wiki/Smithsonian_(magazine)" target="_blank">/wiki/Smithsonian_(magazine)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Peters, Tom F.; Andrea L. (1987). Transitions in Engineering: Guillaume Henri Dufour and the Early 19th Century Cable Suspension Bridges. Basel: Birkhauser. ISBN 3-7643-1929-1. <a href="3-7643-1929-1" target="_blank">3-7643-1929-1</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 July 2020. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1904), "Thomas William Evans", The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. 4, Boston, MA: The Biographical Society, retrieved 2009-06-12. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1IDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT25#PPT24,M1" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1IDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT25#PPT24,M1</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>