Editing 1878 in science (section)

==Births==
* January 1 – [[Agner Krarup Erlang|A. K. Erlang]], [[Danes|Danish]] [[mathematician]] (died [[1929 in science|1929]])
* January 7 – [[Samuel James Cameron]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[obstetrician]] (died [[1959 in science|1959]])
* January 25 – [[Ernst Alexanderson]], [[Sweden|Swedish]]-born television pioneer (died [[1975 in science|1975]])
* February 5 – [[André Citroën]], [[French people|French]] automobile manufacturer (died [[1935 in science|1935]])
* February 8 – [[Martin Buber]], [[Austria]]n philosopher (died [[1965 in science|1965]])
* February 10 – [[Jennie Smillie]], [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[gynecological]] [[surgeon]] (died [[1981 in science|1981]])
* February 28 – [[Pierre Fatou]], French mathematician (died [[1929 in science|1929]])
* March 4 – [[Peter D. Ouspensky]], [[Russia]]n philosopher (died [[1947 in science|1947]])
* April 11 – [[Percy Lane Oliver]], [[British people|British]] pioneer of voluntary [[blood donation]] (died [[1944 in science|1944]])
* April 16 – [[Owen Thomas Jones]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[geologist]] (died [[1967 in science|1967]])
* June 3 – [[Barney Oldfield]], [[United States|American]] automobile racer and pioneer (died [[1946 in science|1946]])
* June 12 – [[James Oliver Curwood]], American novelist and [[conservation movement|conservationist]] (died [[1927 in science|1927]])
* July 12 – [[Peeter Põld]], [[Estonia]]n politician and pedagogical scientist (died [[1930 in science|1930]])
* August 28 – [[George Whipple]], American winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (died [[1976 in science|1976]])
* September 5 – [[Robert von Lieben]], Austrian [[physicist]] (died [[1913 in science|1913]])
* September 13 – [[Matilde Moisant]], American pilot (died [[1964 in science|1964]])
* October 1 – [[Helen Mayo]], Australian pediatrician (died [[1967 in science|1967]])
* November 7 – [[Lise Meitner]], Austrian-Swedish physicist (died [[1968 in science|1968]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bailey Ogilvie |first1=Marilyn |last2=Harvey| first2=Joy |title=The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z | location=London |publisher=Routledge| year=2000 |isbn=978-0-41592-040-7 |page=877}}</ref>
* November 8 – [[Dorothea Bate]], Welsh-born [[paleozoologist]] (died [[1951 in science|1951]])
* December 25 – [[Louis Chevrolet]], [[Switzerland|Swiss]]-born race driver and automobile builder (died [[1941 in science|1941]])
* December 25 – [[Joseph Schenck]], Russian-born film executive (died [[1961 in science|1962]])