1788 in science
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The year 1788 in science and technology involved some significant events.
AstronomyEdit
- December 21 – Caroline Herschel discovers the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet.
BiologyEdit
- Dr. Edward Jenner publishes his observation that it is the newly hatched common cuckoo which pushes its host's eggs and chicks out of the nest.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- James E. Smith founds the Linnean Society of London.
- Utamaro publishes Ehon Mushi Erami ("Picture Book of Crawling Creatures") in Japan with color illustrations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Thomas Walter publishes Flora Caroliniana, the first flora of North America to follow Linnaean taxonomy.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Gilbert White publishes The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, in the County of Southampton (dated 1789), a pioneering observational study of English ecology.
Earth sciencesEdit
- James Hutton's Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe is published for the first time, in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.<ref>Vol. 1(2) pp. 209–304. Theory of the Earth. Template:Webarchive</ref>
MechanicsEdit
- Lagrange's Mécanique analytique is published in Paris, introducing Lagrangian mechanics.
MedicineEdit
- December 5 – Rev. Dr. Francis Willis is called in to advise on treatment of the mental condition of King George III of the United Kingdom.
TechnologyEdit
- February 1 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent a steamboat in the United States.
- October 14 – William Symington demonstrates a paddle steamer on Dalswinton Loch in Scotland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
AwardsEdit
- Copley Medal: Charles Blagden<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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BirthsEdit
- March 7 – Antoine César Becquerel, French scientist (died 1878)
- March 22 – Pierre Joseph Pelletier, French chemist (died 1842)
- April 18 – Charlotte Murchison, Scottish geologist (died 1869)
- May 10 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (died 1827)
- July 1 – Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mechanical and military engineer and mathematician (died 1867)
- July 23 – Prideaux John Selby, English ornithologist (died 1867)
- September 12 – Charlotte von Siebold, German gynecologist (died 1859)
- October 14 – Edward Sabine, Anglo Irish physicist, astronomer and explorer (died 1883)
- December 21 – Thomas Southwood Smith, English physician and sanitary reformer (died 1861)
- James Murray, Irish physician (died 1871)
DeathsEdit
- April 16 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (born 1707)
- May 8 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-Austrian naturalist (born 1723)
- October 17 – John Brown, Scottish-born physician (born 1735)
- December 6 - Nicole-Reine Lepaute, French astronomer (born 1723)
- Lucia Galeazzi Galvani, Italian scientist (born 1743)
- approx. date – Moses Harris, English entomologist and engraver (born 1730)