Editing 1729 in science

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The year '''1729 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* January 9 & 16 – [[James Bradley]], in a letter written to [[Edmond Halley]] and read before the [[Royal Society]], describes his discovery of [[aberration of starlight]].<ref>Date clarified in: {{cite journal|first=George|last=Sarton|authorlink=George Sarton|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]|volume=16|issue=2|title=Discovery of the Aberration of Light|jstor=224710|issn=0021-1753|date=November 1931|pages=233–265 |doi=10.1086/346611}}</ref>
* August 1 – Fr. [[Nicolas Sarrabat]], a professor of mathematics at [[Marseille]], discovers the [[Comet of 1729]], possibly the largest comet, with the highest [[apparent magnitude]], on record.
* English [[optician]] [[Chester Moore Hall]] ([[1703 in science|1703]]–[[1771 in science|1771]]) develops an [[achromatic lens]] (or achromat) commonly used as the objective of small [[refracting telescope]]s.

==Biology==
* June 8 – The [[Botanic Gardens of Pamplemousses]] on [[Mauritius]] are started by Pierre Barmond.
* [[Mark Catesby]] begins part publication in London of ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants ... together with their descriptions in English and French'', the first published account of the [[Flora (plants)|flora]] and [[Fauna (animals)|fauna]] of North America, and the first work of [[natural history]] to use [[folio]]-size coloured plates.<ref>{{cite web|first=F. Nigel|last=Hepper|title=Catesby, Mark (1683–1749)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4882|accessdate=2011-03-23}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Andrew Motte]] publishes ''The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'' in London, the first English translation of [[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' (originally published [[1687 in science|1687]]; Motte translated the 1726 edition).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centre.edu/web/news/2006/Newton_one.pdf |title=Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revolution |last=Steinbock |first=R. Ted |publisher=[[Centre College]] |year=2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919000638/http://www.centre.edu/web/news/2006/Newton_one.pdf |archivedate=2006-09-19 }}</ref>

==Medicine==
* August 6 – [[Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh]] established as the "Hospital for the Sick Poor" or "Physicians' Hospital" in [[Edinburgh]] (Scotland).

==Physics==
* [[Stephen Gray (scientist)|Stephen Gray]] discovers [[electrical conduction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/gray.html|title=Gray, Stephen|last=Westfall|first=Richard S.|work=The Galileo Project}}</ref>
* [[Pierre Bouguer]] publishes ''Essai d'optique sur la gradation de la lumière'', defining the quantity of light lost by passing through a given extent of the [[Earth's atmosphere]], thus making some of the earliest measurements in [[Photometry (optics)|photometry]] and becoming the first known discoverer of what becomes known as the [[Beer–Lambert law]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lamontagne|first=Roland|title=La vie et l'oeuvre de Pierre Bouguer|publisher=Presses de l'Université de Montréal|year=1964}}</ref>

==Technology==
* [[Stephen Switzer]] publishes ''An Introduction to a General System of Hydrostaticks and Hydraulicks'' in London, a 2-volume general treatise on [[hydraulics]].
* Walter Churchman of [[Bristol]] (England) patents the first mechanical [[cocoa bean]] grinder.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Appendix 8: Chocolate Timeline|date=2008|title=Chocolate|pages=855–928|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9780470411315.app8|isbn=978-0-470-41131-5}}</ref>

==Births==
* January 12 – [[Lazzaro Spallanzani]], Italian [[biologist]] (died [[1799 in science|1799]])
* January 31 – [[Pehr Löfling]], Swedish [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaean]] [[botanist]] (died [[1756 in science|1756]])
* September 15 – [[Mikiel'Ang Grima]], [[Maltese people|Maltese]] [[Surgery|surgeon]] (died [[1798 in science|1798]])
* November 11 – [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]], French explorer (died [[1811 in science|1811]])

==Deaths==
* January 31 – [[Jacob Roggeveen]], Dutch explorer (born [[1659 in science|1659]])
* March 2 – [[Francesco Bianchini]], Italian philosopher and scientist (born [[1662 in science|1662]])
* August 5 – [[Thomas Newcomen]], English inventor (born [[1664 in science|1664]])
* December 1 – [[Giacomo F. Maraldi]], French-Italian astronomer (born [[1665 in science|1665]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1729 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1720s in science]]