Editing 1861 in science (section)

==Chemistry==
* March 30 – [[William Crookes]] announces his discovery of [[thallium]].
* [[Rubidium]] is discovered by [[Robert Bunsen]] and [[Gustav Kirchhoff]], in [[Heidelberg]], [[Germany]], in the [[mineral]] [[lepidolite]] through the use of their [[spectroscope]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chemische Analyse durch Spectralbeobachtungen|pages=337–381|first1=G.|last1=Kirchhoff|first2=R.|last2=Bunsen|doi=10.1002/andp.18611890702|journal=[[Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik und Chemie]]|volume=189|issue=7|year=1861|bibcode=1861AnP...189..337K|hdl=2027/hvd.32044080591324|url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/15657/1/spektral.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The discovery of the elements. XIII. Some spectroscopic discoveries|pages=1413–1434|last=Weeks|first=Mary Elvira|authorlink=Mary Elvira Weeks|doi=10.1021/ed009p1413|journal=[[Journal of Chemical Education]]|volume=9|issue=8|year=1932|bibcode=1932JChEd...9.1413W}}</ref>
* [[Aleksandr Butlerov]] is instrumental in creating the theory of [[chemical structure]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Kazansky, B. |editor2=Bykov, G. V. |title=Centenary of the Theory of Chemical Structure: collection of papers by A. M. Butlerov|location=Moscow|publisher=Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences|year=1961}}</ref>
* [[Johann Josef Loschmidt|Josef Loschmidt]] publishes ''Chemische Studien'', proposing two-dimensional representations for over 300 [[molecule]]s and recognising variations in atomic size.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rzepa|first=Henry S.|authorlink=Henry Rzepa|year=2005|url=http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/loschmidt/|title=Joseph Loschmidt: Structural formulae, 1861|accessdate=2011-05-23| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110516083227/http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/loschmidt/| archivedate=16 May 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Ernest Solvay]] develops the [[Solvay process]] for the manufacture of soda ash ([[sodium carbonate]]).