1781 in science

none 1781 science 1781 The year 1781 in science and technology involved some significant events. Astronomy March 13 – William Herschel observes Uranus (although initially recording it as a comet).Account of a Comet, By Mr. Herschel, F.R.S.; Communicated by Dr. Watson, Jun. of Bath, F.R.S Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London 71 492–501 1781RSPT...71..492H 10.1098/rstl.1781.0056 1781 Herschel W. Watson Dr. 186208953 March 20 – Pierre Méchain discovers dwarf galaxy NGC 5195. Charles Messier's final catalogue of Messier objects is published. Christian Mayer's catalogue of binary stars is published."Verzeichniss aller bisher entdeckten Doppeltsterne" In Johann Elert Bode's Astronomisches Jahrbuch for 1784, pp. 183-6. Biology Felice Fontana uses a microscope to describe the axon of a brain cell. John Latham begins publication of A General Synopsis of Birds. Chemistry Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald is granted a British patent for the manufacture of coal tar.James Burke (science historian) James Burke Connections https://archive.org/details/connections00burk_351 limited London Macmillan 1978 0-333-24827-9 196Coal Tar Before the Invention of Town's Gas http://www.glias.org.uk/Chemicals_from_Coal/PART_1.HTM 2011-12-31 2012-02-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20120205222619/http://www.glias.org.uk/Chemicals_from_Coal/PART_1.HTM dead Carl Wilhelm Scheele ascertains that a new acid can be made from tungstenite, leading to the discovery of tungsten in 1783.Emsley John Nature's Building Blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements https://books.google.com/books?id=j-Xu07p3cKwC Oxford University Press 2001 978-0-19-850341-5 Autumn – Peter Jacob Hjelm isolates molybdenum.Hjelm P. J. Versuche mit Molybdäna, und Reduction der selben Erde Der Königl. Schwedischen Akademie der Wissenschaften neue Abhandlungen aus der Naturlehre, Haushaltungskunst und Mechanik Leipzig 268 1788 49 http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN324352840_0009_02_NS Awards Copley Medal: William HerschelCopley Medal British scientific award https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal Encyclopedia Britannica 21 July 2020 en Births January 30 – Adelbert von Chamisso, poet and botanist (died 1838) February 17 – Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, French physician, inventor of the stethoscope (died 1826).Laennec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe (1781-1826) https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12462982h catalogue.bnf.fr Bibliothèque Nationale de France 6 February 2021 fr May 29 – John Walker, English chemist (died 1859) June 9 – George Stephenson, English locomotive engineer (died 1848) June 21 – Siméon Poisson, mathematician (died 1840) July 6 – Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of the Zoological Society of London (died 1826) September 14 – James Walker, Scottish civil engineer (died 1862) October 5 – Bernhard Bolzano, mathematician (died 1848) December 11 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist (died 1868) Deaths May 27 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (born 1716) References Category:18th century in science Category:1780s in science