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1838 in science
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<h2 id="astronomy">Astronomy</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Bessel/82K1lJ7t">Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel</a> makes the first accurate measurement of distance to a star, <a href="/facts/61_Cygni/ISchaxhy">61 Cygni</a>, using <a href="/facts/Parallax/Gu8W21LP">parallax</a>. <a href="/facts/Thomas_James_Henderson/zCJzzFwo">Thomas Henderson</a> (<a href="/facts/Alpha_Centauri/6BlySfIj">Alpha Centauri</a>) and <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Georg_Wilhelm_Struve/ajPxYc1q">Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve</a> (<a href="/facts/Vega/G3wJwhhl">Vega</a>) announce their measurements using parallax shortly afterwards.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Claude_Servais_Mathias_Pouillet/juM0fUHN">Claude Servais Mathias Pouillet</a> makes the first quantitative measurements of the <a href="/facts/Heat/FjDGssCs">heat</a> emitted by the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">Sun</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Peter_Andreas_Hansen/S4n9vJJr">Peter Andreas Hansen</a> publishes a revision of the <a href="/facts/Lunar_theory/6Sa16FcE">lunar theory</a>, <i>Fundamenta nova investigationis orbitae verae quam luna perlustrat</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="biology">Biology</h2> <ul><li>May 9 – <a href="/facts/Royal_Agricultural_Society_of_England/kb3d93tx">Royal Agricultural Society of England</a> established.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Protein/Jxmagu3E">Proteins</a> discovered by <a href="/facts/Gerardus_Johannes_Mulder/bnrVvTnQ">Gerardus Johannes Mulder</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> and named by <a href="/facts/J%25C3%25B6ns_Jakob_Berzelius/HakSv3sP">Jöns Jakob Berzelius</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Matthias_Schleiden/UvKv4hBV">Matthias Schleiden</a> discovers that all living plant tissue is composed of cells.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Andrew_Smith_(zoologist)/2nn9c6Ht">Andrew Smith</a> begins publication of <i>Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="chemistry">Chemistry</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Bulat_steel/o51edy3E">Bulat steel</a> <a href="/facts/Alloy/I7w7WQWR">alloy</a> developed by <a href="/facts/Pavel_Petrovich_Anosov/xWTzVrt9">Pavel Petrovich Anosov</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Electrotyping/5TjpXUSb">Electrotyping</a> is invented by <a href="/facts/Moritz_von_Jacobi/eYTfnSQh">Moritz von Jacobi</a> in Russia.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="exploration">Exploration</h2> <ul><li>August 18 – The <a href="/facts/United_States_Exploring_Expedition/yLq8Cstn">United States Exploring Expedition</a> under <a href="/facts/United_States_Navy/xYK0fUou">U.S. Navy</a> <a href="/facts/Lieutenant/G9BbvD6s">Lieutenant</a> <a href="/facts/Charles_Wilkes/ufXUzQmK">Charles Wilkes</a> sets sail for a four-year <a href="/facts/Circumnavigation/8R6vSgTM">circumnavigation</a> westabout.</li> <li>In <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, <a href="/facts/Charles_Sturt/0hB5EJcl">Charles Sturt</a> proves that the Hume and <a href="/facts/Murray_River/loNWl5TP">Murray</a> are the same river.</li></ul> <h2 id="mathematics">Mathematics</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Augustus_De_Morgan/6fQ1KTPb">Augustus De Morgan</a> introduces the term '<a href="/facts/Mathematical_induction/KxAPqNrH">mathematical induction</a>'.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Sim%25C3%25A9on_Denis_Poisson/zmsDITrY">S. D. Poisson</a> publishes <i>Recherches sur la probabilité des jugements en matière criminelle et en matière civile</i>, containing his work on <a href="/facts/Probability_theory/mFBn51rE">probability theory</a> and introducing <a href="/facts/Poisson_distribution/CvCzXkHr">Poisson distribution</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="medicine">Medicine</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Jean_Esquirol/joNUBUdw">Jean Esquirol</a> publishes <i>Des maladies mentales considerées sous le rapport médicale, hygiènique et médico-legal</i> in <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>. This includes the first description of what will later become known as <a href="/facts/Down_syndrome/Y4XEQSMS">Down syndrome</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/John_Gorrie/dYWtNr94">John Gorrie</a> experiments with cooling the hospital wards of <a href="/facts/Malaria/rN3g58CX">malarial</a> patients in <a href="/facts/Apalachicola%2c_Florida/Qg680kdD">Apalachicola, Florida</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <h2 id="technology">Technology</h2> <ul><li>January 6/11 – <a href="/facts/Samuel_Morse/7KKMPBtY">Samuel Morse</a> first publicly demonstrates the <a href="/facts/Electrical_telegraph/yrFhbvM8">electrical telegraph</a>, at <a href="/facts/Morristown%2c_New_Jersey/XEUdS15a">Morristown, New Jersey</a>.</li> <li>April 4–22 – The <a href="/facts/Paddle_steamer/dzWzKhpT">paddle steamer</a> <a href="/facts/SS_Sirius_(1837)/aLnBC251">SS <i>Sirius</i> (1837)</a> makes the <a href="/facts/Transatlantic_Crossing/e7FuVL5C">Transatlantic Crossing</a> to <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York</a> from <a href="/facts/Cork_(city)/MQKCwx4l">Cork</a>, <a href="/facts/Ireland/35vYxXdP">Ireland</a>, in eighteen days, though not using steam continuously.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li>April 8–23 – <a href="/facts/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel/kKeQ1IV6">Isambard Kingdom Brunel</a>'s paddle steamer <a href="/facts/SS_Great_Western/lmv2oCXA">SS <i>Great Western</i></a> (1838) makes the Transatlantic Crossing to New York from <a href="/facts/Avonmouth/WInrxzAD">Avonmouth</a>, <a href="/facts/England/U9mE5bGL">England</a>, in fifteen days, inaugurating a regular steamship service.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Liverpool/kTqATlxg">Liverpool</a>-built <a href="/facts/Barque/np4CEhBy">barque</a> <i>Ironsides</i> becomes the first large ocean-going iron ship.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/William_Barnett_(engineer)/1AE0cmMX">William Barnett</a> obtains a United Kingdom <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> for an <a href="/facts/History_of_the_internal_combustion_engine/68Rca6VN">internal combustion engine</a>, the first with compression of the gas/air mixture in the cylinder.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/David_Bruce_(inventor)/YRqhaI2u">David Bruce</a>, Jr., invents the Pivotal Typecaster, which replaces hand typecasting in printing.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Moritz_von_Jacobi/eYTfnSQh">Boris Semyonovich Yakobi</a> invents <a href="/facts/Electrotyping/5TjpXUSb">electrotyping</a>, which is used in printing and reproduction of art objects.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></li> <li>The first <a href="/facts/Screw-pile_lighthouse/c56j7vtL">screw-pile lighthouse</a> is built by <a href="/facts/Alexander_Mitchell_(engineer)/PCVlfppf">Alexander Mitchell</a> on <a href="/facts/Maplin_Sands/ghKhGVVS">Maplin Sands</a> in the <a href="/facts/Thames_Estuary/vB5gqHPR">Thames Estuary</a>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Charles_Wheatstone/935jnRhj">Charles Wheatstone</a> originates the <a href="/facts/Stereoscope/YLMTVd8X">stereoscope</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="events">Events</h2> <ul><li>A statue of English chemist and physicist <a href="/facts/John_Dalton/oS8grQR4">John Dalton</a> (in marble by <a href="/facts/Francis_Leggatt_Chantrey/Txpl8hkW">Sir Francis Chantrey</a>) is erected in <a href="/facts/Manchester/2Do01QHs">Manchester</a> during the scientist's lifetime.</li></ul> <h2 id="awards">Awards</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Copley_Medal/bBwd6QzN">Copley Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss/f4eSMBD7">Carl Friedrich Gauss</a>; <a href="/facts/Michael_Faraday/NDcc3lyt">Michael Faraday</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Wollaston_Medal/uVkuXBYJ">Wollaston Medal</a>: <a href="/facts/Richard_Owen/M8H3td41">Richard Owen</a></li></ul> <h2 id="births">Births</h2> <ul><li>January 5 – <a href="/facts/Camille_Jordan/gmLuEJ4e">Camille Jordan</a> (died <a href="/facts/1922_in_science/VFLMRogY">1922</a>), <a href="/facts/French_people/984axQ8y">French</a> <a href="/facts/Mathematician/eaFSR8Fx">mathematician</a>.</li> <li>January 29 – <a href="/facts/Edward_W._Morley/yNp2YFUe">Edward W. Morley</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> <a href="/facts/Chemist/N09K7Bdm">chemist</a>.</li> <li>February 18 – <a href="/facts/Ernst_Mach/gfSFynYK">Ernst Mach</a> (died <a href="/facts/1916_in_science/bafd4Cjp">1916</a>), <a href="/facts/Austrians/EaCmCnHx">Austrian</a> <a href="/facts/Physicist/cQcgvSIm">physicist</a>.</li> <li>March 3 – <a href="/facts/George_William_Hill/FdlNnBUC">George William Hill</a> (died <a href="/facts/1914_in_science/syUzlX5D">1914</a>), American <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a>.</li> <li>March 12 – <a href="/facts/William_Henry_Perkin/fMt97dct">William H. Perkin</a> (died <a href="/facts/1907_in_science/6kN1ef3W">1907</a>), <a href="/facts/English_people/IeI9c7BK">English</a> chemist.</li> <li>March 15 – <a href="/facts/Alice_Cunningham_Fletcher/TjcVGADp">Alice Cunningham Fletcher</a> (died <a href="/facts/1923_in_science/P8DhUfan">1923</a>), Cuban-born American <a href="/facts/Ethnologist/MJQ2vC0K">ethnologist</a>, <a href="/facts/Anthropologist/CboLlQq5">anthropologist</a> and <a href="/facts/Social_scientist/hAbm1xtD">social scientist</a>.</li> <li>April 8 – <a href="/facts/Ferdinand_von_Zeppelin/MMdIRHvh">Ferdinand von Zeppelin</a> (died <a href="/facts/1917_in_science/2F9GvY8e">1917</a>), <a href="/facts/Germans/F7mBCrJ4">German</a> founder of the <a href="/facts/Zeppelin/rGu4K3Tv">Zeppelin</a> <a href="/facts/Airship/8X3TSBdx">airship</a> company.</li> <li>April 16 – <a href="/facts/Ernest_Solvay/PYyeXXTt">Ernest Solvay</a> (died <a href="/facts/1922_in_science/VFLMRogY">1922</a>), <a href="/facts/Belgians/xSmHFHch">Belgian</a> chemist.</li> <li>April 18 – <a href="/facts/Paul-%25C3%2589mile_Lecoq_de_Boisbaudran/XT2EnBwI">Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran</a> (died <a href="/facts/1912_in_science/ro3op4mA">1912</a>), French chemist.</li> <li>April 21 – <a href="/facts/John_Muir/dNsfW7cq">John Muir</a> (died <a href="/facts/1914_in_science/syUzlX5D">1914</a>), Scottish-born American <a href="/facts/Natural_history/pSlAvbTX">naturalist</a>.</li> <li>May 6 – <a href="/facts/Alexandra_Smirnoff/GzpKImyb">Alexandra Smirnoff</a> (died <a href="/facts/1913_in_science/6nl9Anqy">1913</a>), <a href="/facts/Finns/6rVmdljT">Finnish</a> <a href="/facts/Pomologist/j4FKmJ1U">pomologist</a>.</li> <li>June 4 – <a href="/facts/John_Grigg_(astronomer)/3QBwbany">John Grigg</a> (died <a href="/facts/1920_in_science/FcwHBQPg">1920</a>), New Zealand astronomer.</li> <li>July 19 – <a href="/facts/Joel_Asaph_Allen/yKTlVbdl">Joel Asaph Allen</a> (died <a href="/facts/1921_in_science/jqlgdekP">1921</a>), American <a href="/facts/Zoologist/6Kj13mBt">zoologist</a>.</li> <li>August 6 – <a href="/facts/George_James_Symons/Ygx3zKzX">George James Symons</a> (died <a href="/facts/1900_in_science/tY9grWXa">1900</a>), English <a href="/facts/Meteorologist/GDUQ6qxD">meteorologist</a>.</li> <li>December 12 – <a href="/facts/Sherburne_Wesley_Burnham/pBGUQJyT">Sherburne Wesley Burnham</a> (died <a href="/facts/1921_in_science/jqlgdekP">1921</a>), American astronomer.</li></ul> <h2 id="deaths">Deaths</h2> <ul><li>March 16 – <a href="/facts/Nathaniel_Bowditch/ltjBkebW">Nathaniel Bowditch</a> (born <a href="/facts/1773_in_science/xaDVo9u4">1773</a>), American mathematician.</li> <li>April 6 – <a href="/facts/Jos%25C3%25A9_Bonif%25C3%25A1cio_de_Andrada/lpzDS2aF">José Bonifácio de Andrada</a> (born <a href="/facts/1763_in_science/N2n5qvaT">1763</a>), <a href="/facts/Brazilians/GenvRYa8">Brazilian</a> statesman and <a href="/facts/Mineralogist/MeIK9lx9">mineralogist</a>.</li> <li>May 11 – <a href="/facts/Thomas_Andrew_Knight/R34Y3V3w">Thomas Andrew Knight</a> (born <a href="/facts/1759_in_science/jokdkunq">1759</a>), English horticulturalist.</li> <li>July 5 – <a href="/facts/Jean_Marc_Gaspard_Itard/tgugjuP8">Jean Marc Gaspard Itard</a> (born <a href="/facts/1774_in_science/T5ByrBMR">1774</a>), French <a href="/facts/Otorhinolaryngologist/2xejc7Rq">otorhinolaryngologist</a>.</li> <li>August 21 – <a href="/facts/Adelbert_von_Chamisso/ryBtzznz">Adelbert von Chamisso</a> (born <a href="/facts/1781_in_science/dCMLLjpy">1781</a>), German <a href="/facts/Botanist/PaIRoxnb">botanist</a>.</li> <li>September 1 – <a href="/facts/William_Clark/I0Rgyx9q">William Clark</a> (born <a href="/facts/1770_in_science/poKYG3AN">1770</a>), American explorer.</li> <li>September 27 – <a href="/facts/Bernard_Courtois/xy0jl3lA">Bernard Courtois</a> (born <a href="/facts/1777_in_science/E7k1lYKV">1777</a>), French chemist.</li> <li>October 1 – <a href="/facts/Charles_Tennant/N6hHc0tF">Charles Tennant</a> (born <a href="/facts/1768_in_science/HmU2rre0">1768</a>), Scottish chemist and industrialist.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Mulder, G. J. (1838). "Over Proteine en hare Verbindingen en Ontledingsproducten". Natuur- en Scheikundig Archief. 6: 87–162. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Vickery, Hubert Bradford (1950). "The Origin of the Word Protein". Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 22 (5): 387–93. PMC 2598953. PMID 15413335. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598953" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2598953</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Heinrich, Herbert (December 1938). "The Discovery of Galvanoplasty and Electrotyping" (PDF). Journal of Chemical Education. 15 (12): 565–575. Bibcode:1938JChEd..15..565H. doi:10.1021/ed015p565. Retrieved 2012-06-21.[permanent dead link] <a href="http://www.jce.divched.org/journal/issues/1938/Dec/jceSubscriber/JCE1938p0565.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.jce.divched.org/journal/issues/1938/Dec/jceSubscriber/JCE1938p0565.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8. <a href="978-1-84724-008-8" target="_blank">978-1-84724-008-8</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Down's syndrome". Whonamedit?. Retrieved 2011-04-13. <a href="http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/322.html" target="_blank">http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/322.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Burke, James (1978). Connections. London: Macmillan. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-333-24827-0. <a href="978-0-333-24827-0" target="_blank">978-0-333-24827-0</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Steamship Curaçao". Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-02. <a href="http://www.vrcurassow.com/2dvrc/sscuracao/sscuracao.html" target="_blank">http://www.vrcurassow.com/2dvrc/sscuracao/sscuracao.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Icons, a portrait of England 1820-1840". Archived from the original on 22 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-12. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070922055840/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20070922055840/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Grantham, John (1859). On Iron Ship Building (2nd ed.). London: Lockwood. pp. 13–14. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Patent No. 7615, Obtaining motive power from inflammable gases by compression and explosion. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Clerk, Dugald (1897). Gas and Oil Engines. London: Longman Green & Co. <a href="/wiki/Dugald_Clerk" target="_blank">/wiki/Dugald_Clerk</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Heinrich, Herbert (December 1938). "The Discovery of Galvanoplasty and Electrotyping". Journal of Chemical Education. 15 (12): 566–575. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><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:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>