Editing 1842 in science (section)

==Births==
* February 2 – [[Julian Sochocki]] (died [[1927 in science|1927]]), Polish [[mathematician]].
* February 10 – [[Agnes Mary Clerke]] (died [[1927 in science|1907]]) Irish astronomer and author.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Catharine M C|last1=Haines|first2=Helen M|last2=Stevens|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|location=Santa Barbara|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2001|page=66|isbn=978-1-57607-090-1}}</ref>
* February 22 – [[Camille Flammarion]] (died [[1925 in science|1925]]), French [[astronomer]].
* March 17 – [[Rosina Heikel]] (died [[1929 in science|1929]]), Finnish [[physician]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Arvid|last=Bernce|title=Efter 1809 en Krönika i ord och bild om Finlandssvenskarna|location=Helsingfors|publisher=Bernces förlag|year=1981|page=2003|isbn=978-9-15000-408-3|lang=SV}}</ref>
* March 23 – [[Susan Jane Cunningham]] (died [[1921 in science|1921]]), American mathematician.
* April 4 – [[Édouard Lucas]] (died [[1891 in science|1891]], French mathematician.
* May 7 – [[Isala Van Diest]] (died [[1916]]), Belgian physician.
* May 8 – [[Emil Christian Hansen]] (died [[1909 in science|1909]]), Danish [[Fermentation (biochemistry)|fermentation]] [[physiologist]].
* June 11 – [[Carl von Linde]] (died [[1934 in science|1934]]), German refrigeration engineer.
* August 23 – [[Osborne Reynolds]] (died [[1912 in science|1912]]), Irish-born [[physicist]].
* September 9 – [[Elliott Coues]] (died [[1899 in science|1899]]), American [[ornithologist]].
* September 20
** [[James Dewar]] (died [[1923 in science|1923]]), Scottish-born [[chemist]].
** [[Charles Lapworth]] (died [[1920 in science|1920]]), English [[geologist]].
* October 17 – [[Gustaf Retzius]] (died [[1919 in science|1919]]), Swedish [[anatomist]].
* October 24 (O.S. October 12) – [[Nikolai Menshutkin]] (died [[1907 in science|1907]]), Russian chemist.
* November 12 – [[John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh]] (died [[1919 in science|1919]]), English [[Nobel Prize]]-winning [[physicist]].
* December 3 – [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] (d. [[1911]]), American chemist.
* December 17 – [[Sophus Lie]] (died [[1899 in science|1899]]), Norwegian mathematician.