Editing 1720 in science

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The year '''1720 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* February 10 – [[Edmond Halley]] is appointed as [[Astronomer Royal]] of England.

==Medicine==
* May – First patient admitted to the Westminster Public Infirmary, predecessor of [[St George's Hospital]], London.
* [[Dr Steevens' Hospital]] is established at [[Kilmainham]], [[Dublin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kirkpatrick|first=Thomas Percy Claude|year=1924|title=The History of Dr Steevens' Hospital, Dublin 1720–1920|publisher=Dublin University Press}}</ref>
* [[Great Plague of Marseille]], the last major outbreak of [[bubonic plague]] in Europe.
* English physician [[Richard Mead]] publishes ''A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it''.

==Physics==
* [[Willem 's Gravesande]] publishes ''Physices elementa mathematica, experimentis confirmata, sive introductio ad philosophiam Newtonianam'', an introduction to [[Newtonian physics]], in [[Leiden]].

==Technology==
* A [[theodolite]] is developed by [[Jonathan Sisson]] of England.
* [[Pinchbeck (alloy)|Pinchbeck]] is invented by English watchmaker [[Christopher Pinchbeck]]; it is an [[alloy]] of 83% [[copper]] and 17% [[zinc]], creating a strong, hard-wearing metal which has the appearance and weight of 20 [[Carat (purity)|carat]] [[gold]].
* An early [[chronograph]] is invented which has only mechanical parts in it.
* Henry de Saumarez (of the [[Channel Islands]]) produces an instrument called the ''Marine Surveyor'' intended to measure a ship's [[velocity]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=A. H. W.|last=Robinson|title=Forum|page=358-40|journal=Journal of Navigation|volume=9|year=1956|doi=10.1017/S0373463300036493|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* A single-action five-[[pedal harp]] is developed by [[Jacob Hochbrucker]] of [[Bavaria]] which can raise the pitch of the selected strings by a half step.
* ''approx. date'' – Joseph Williamson uses a [[differential gear]] in a clock.

==Births==
* January 30 – [[Charles De Geer]], [[Swedes|Swedish]] industrialist and [[entomologist]] (died [[1778 in science|1778]]) 
* March 13 – [[Charles Bonnet]], [[Republic of Geneva|Genevan]] [[naturalist]] and philosophical writer (died [[1793 in science|1793]])
* July 18 – [[Gilbert White]], English naturalist (died 1793)
* [[October 8]] &ndash; [[Geneviève Thiroux d'Arconville]], French novelist, translator and chemist (d. [[1805]]) 
* November 5 – [[Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet]], French pharmacist and botanist (died [[1778 in science|1778]])
* December ? – [[James Hargreaves]], English inventor (died [[1778 in science|1778]])
* ''approx. date'' – [[Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov]], Russian [[chemist]] and (died [[1758 in science|1758]])

==Deaths==
* December 29 – [[Maria Margarethe Kirch]], German astronomer (born [[1670 in science|1670]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Maria Kirch – German astronomer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Kirch|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=5 April 2018|language=en}}</ref>
* [[David Gregory (physician)|David Gregory]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[physician]] and inventor (born [[1625 in science|1625]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1720 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1720s in science]]