Editing 1897 in science (section)

==Technology==
* January 22 – The word ''[[computer]]'' is first used to refer to a mechanical calculation device, in this date's issue of the journal ''Engineering''.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. {{cite book|first=Lisa|last=McCoy|title=Computers and Programming|url=https://archive.org/details/computersprogram0000mcco|url-access=registration|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/computersprogram0000mcco/page/1 1]}}</ref>
* May 11 – A patent is awarded for the invention of the first automotive [[muffler]], with the granting by the U.S. Patent Office of application number 582,485 to [[Milton Reeves]] and his brother Marshall T. Reeves, of the Reeves Pulley Company of [[Columbus, Indiana]].<ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US582485 "Exhaust Muffler for Engines"]; [http://www.k3ir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/QRZnewsSep2014.pdf QRZ News, September 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717014931/http://www.k3ir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/QRZnewsSep2014.pdf |date=2015-07-17 }}</ref>
* May 13 – [[Guglielmo Marconi]] sends the first ever [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless]] communication over open sea when the message "Are you ready" is transmitted across the [[Bristol Channel]] from [[Lavernock Point]] in [[South Wales]] to [[Flat Holm]] Island, a distance of {{convert|6|km|mi}}.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[BBC Wales]]|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/historyhunters/locations/pages/3_1_flatholm.shtml|title=Marconi's Waves|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070120163444/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/historyhunters/locations/pages/3_1_flatholm.shtml|archivedate=2007-01-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* May 17 – Launch of the ''Holland VI'' (later {{USS|Holland|SS-1}}), designed by [[John Philip Holland]], at [[Lewis Nixon (naval architect)|Lewis Nixon's]] [[Crescent Shipyard]] in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]; this is the first [[submarine]] having power to run submerged for any considerable distance, and the first to combine [[electric motor]]s for submerged travel and gasoline ([[Otto engine|Otto]]) engines for use on the surface.
* June 26 – At the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)#Queen Victoria|Fleet Review]], [[Charles Algernon Parsons|Charles Parsons]] gives a spectacular display of the unprecedented speed attainable by his [[steam turbine]]-powered ''[[Turbinia]]''.<ref>{{cite web|first=Phil |last=Russell |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~philipr/Parsons.htm |work=Navies in Transition |title=Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (1854-1931) |year=1999 |accessdate=2010-09-09 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113095736/http://www.btinternet.com/~philipr/Parsons.htm |archivedate=2010-01-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* August 10 – [[Rudolf Diesel]] demonstrates his first commercially successful [[Diesel engine]] in [[Augsburg]].
* August 31 – [[Thomas Edison]] is granted a [[patent]] for the [[Kinetoscope]], a precursor of the [[movie projector]].
* [[Hiram Percy Maxim|Hiram P. Maxim]] develops the [[muffler]] in conjunction with the firearm silencer ([[suppressor]]).
* The [[Dahlander pole changing motor]] is patented.
* The Daimler Victoria, the world's first [[taximeter|meter]]-equipped (and gasoline-powered) [[taxicab]], is built by [[Gottlieb Daimler]].