Editing 1779 in science (section)

==Technology==
* January 8 – [[Bryan Higgins]] is granted a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] [[patent]] for hydraulic [[cement]] (''[[stucco]]'') for use as an exterior plaster.<ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Knight|title=Higgins, Bryan (c. 1741–1818)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13228|accessdate=2011-06-20|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/13228}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>
* May – [[Boulton and Watt]]'s [[Smethwick Engine]] is brought into service for pumping on the [[Birmingham Canal Navigations]]; two centuries later it will become the oldest working steam engine in the world.
* [[James Pickard]] first applies a [[Crank (mechanism)|crank]] and [[flywheel]] to a [[Newcomen atmospheric engine]] to produce [[circular motion]].
* [[The Iron Bridge]] is erected across the [[River Severn]] in [[Shropshire]], England; the first all-[[cast iron|cast-iron]] bridge ever built.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1750-1800 |title=Icons, a portrait of England 1750-1800 |accessdate=2007-08-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817164134/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1750-1800 |archivedate=2007-08-17 }}</ref> It will open to traffic on January 1, 1781.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/333|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/333 333–334]}}</ref>
* The [[spinning mule]] is perfected by the [[Lancashire]] inventor [[Samuel Crompton]].<ref name="Cassell's Chronology"/>
* The British [[Royal Navy]] adopts the [[carronade]].
* The [[Girandoni Air Rifle]] is designed in [[Austrian Empire|Austria]].