Editing 1698 in science

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The year '''1698 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Christiaan Huygens]], in his posthumously published book ''Kosmotheoros'', argues that other planets in the [[Solar System]] could contain [[extraterrestrial life]], starting a debate that extends into the 21st century.

==Exploration==
* November – [[HMS Paramour (1694)|HMS ''Paramour'']] sets sail under the command of [[Edmond Halley]] on the first purely scientific voyage by an English naval vessel, to investigate [[magnetic declination]].

==Technology==
* January 11 – April 21 – [[Tsar]] [[Peter the Great]] of [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]] (incognito as 'Peter Mikhailov') visits [[England]] as part of his [[Grand Embassy of Peter I|Grand Embassy]], making a particular study of shipbuilding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/jan/28.htm|title=January 28th|work=Chambers' Book of Days|accessdate=2007-12-28| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20071217212219/http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/jan/28.htm| archivedate= 17 December 2007 <!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* July 25 – [[English people|English]] engineer [[Thomas Savery]] obtains a [[patent]] for "A new invention for raising of water... by the impellent force of fire", a [[Pumps#Steam pumps|steam pump]].<ref>{{cite web|first=E. I.|last=Carlyle|title=Savery, Thomas (1650?–1715)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24733|accessdate=2011-11-05|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/24733}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>
* November 14 – First [[Eddystone Lighthouse]] illuminated,<ref>{{cite book|first=Fred|last=Majdalany|title=The Red Rocks of Eddystone|location=London|publisher=Longmans|year=1959|page=49}}</ref> the first rock [[lighthouse]] in [[Europe]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/pdfs/info-sheets/Advances_in_AtoN.pdf|title=Advances in Aids to Navigation Technology|accessdate=2011-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602005724/http://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/pdfs/info-sheets/Advances_in_AtoN.pdf|archive-date=2011-06-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The piano is invented by Italian [[Bartolomeo Cristofori]], originally named the "piano et forte" (meaning "soft and loud").
* A [[metronome]] is developed as a machine to measure musical [[tempo]].

==Events==
* November – Tani Jinzan, [[astronomer]] and [[calendar]] scholar, observes a fire destroy [[Kōchi Prefecture|Tosa]] in [[Japan]] at the same time as a [[Leonids|Leonid]] [[meteor shower]], taking it as evidence to reinforce belief in the "Theory of Areas".

==Births==
* February – [[Colin Maclaurin]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[mathematician]] (died [[1746 in science|1746]])
* February 16 – [[Pierre Bouguer]], [[French people|French]] mathematician (died [[1758 in science|1758]])
* March 26 – [[Václav Prokop Diviš]], [[Czech people|Czech]] theologian and natural scientist (died [[1765 in science|1765]])
* May 8 – [[Henry Baker (naturalist)|Henry Baker]], [[English people|English]] [[naturalist]] (died [[1774 in science|1774]])
* July 17 – [[Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis]], French mathematician (died [[1759 in science|1759]])
* November 28 – [[Charlotta Frölich]], [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[agronomist]] (died [[1770 in science|1770]])

==Deaths==
* August 18 – [[Nicolas Venette]], French physician, sexologist and writer (born [[1633 in science|1633]])<ref>{{BNF|12108388m}}</ref>
* November 4 – [[Rasmus Bartholin]], [[Danes|Danish]] scientist (born [[1625 in science|1625]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1698 in science| ]]
[[Category:17th century in science]]
[[Category:1690s in science]]