Editing 1666 in science

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Year nav topic5|1666|science}}
{{Science year nav|1666}}

The year '''1666 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Events==
* December 22 – [[French Academy of Sciences]] first meets.

==Astronomy==
* Publication of [[Stanisław Lubieniecki]]'s ''Theatrum Cometicum'' begins in [[Amsterdam]], the first encyclopedia and atlas of [[comet]]s.

==Botany==
* Establishment of [[Herrenhäuser Gärten#The Berggarten|Herrenhäuser Gärten, Hanover]].

==Mathematics==
* [[Isaac Newton]] develops differential [[calculus]].
* [[Samuel Morland]] produces several designs of pocket [[calculating machine]] and also publishes ''A New Method of Cryptography''.<ref>{{cite book|first=H. W.|last=Dickinson|title=Sir Samuel Morland: diplomat and inventor 1625–1695|url=https://archive.org/details/sirsamuelmorland0000dick|url-access=registration|location=Cambridge|publisher=Heffer for the Newcomen Society|year=1970|isbn=0-85270-061-X}}</ref>

==Physics==
* [[Isaac Newton]] uses a prism to split sunlight into the component colours of the [[optical spectrum]], assisting understanding of the nature of [[light]].
* [[Robert Hooke]] and [[Giovanni Alfonso Borelli]] both expound [[gravitation]] as an attractive force (Hooke's lecture "On gravity" at the [[Royal Society]] of London on March 21; Borelli's ''Theoricae Mediceorum planetarum ex causis physicis deductae'', published in [[Florence]] later in the year).<ref>{{cite book|page=239|first=Curtis|last=Wilson|year=1989|chapter=The Newtonian achievement in astronomy|title=Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the rise of astrophysics: 2A: Tycho Brahe to Newton|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

==Publications==
* [[Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne]], publishes ''Observations upon Experimental Philosophy'', including an attack on [[Robert Hooke]]'s ''[[Micrographia]]''.<ref>{{cite web|first=James|last=Fitzmaurice|title=Cavendish, Margaret, duchess of Newcastle upon Tyne (1623?–1673)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4940|accessdate=2011-11-24|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4940}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

==Births==
* December – [[Stephen Gray (scientist)|Stephen Gray]], English scientist (died [[1736 in science|1736]])

==Deaths==
* [[Giovanni Battista Baliani]], [[Genoa|Genoese]] [[physicist]] (born [[1582 in science|1582]])
* [[Song Yingxing]], [[China|Chinese]] encyclopedist (born [[1587 in science|1587]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1666 in science| ]]
[[Category:17th century in science]]
[[Category:1660s in science]]