Editing 1738 in science

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The year '''1738 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Pierre Louis Maupertuis]] publishes ''Sur la figure de la terre'', which confirms [[Isaac Newton|Newton's]] view that the Earth is an [[oblate spheroid]] slightly flattened at the poles.

==Botany==
* Publication of ''[[Hortus Cliffortianus]]'', a detailed description by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] of [[George Clifford III|George Clifford]]'s gardens at [[Hartekamp]], [[Netherlands]], including the raising of exotic plants such as [[banana]]s in a [[greenhouse]].
* Publication of ''Rariorum Africanarum plantarum'', a [[Flora (publication)|flora]] of [[Cape Colony]] by [[Johannes Burman]], begins publication in Amsterdam.

==Mathematics==
* [[Abraham de Moivre]] publishes the second [[English language|English]] edition of his ''[[The Doctrine of Chances]]'' containing a study of the coefficients in the [[binomial expansion]] of {{nowrap|(''a + b'')<sup>''n''</sup>}}.

==Medicine==
* February – [[Great Plague of 1738]], an outbreak of [[bubonic plague]], begins to spread from [[Banat]] across [[central Europe]].<ref>{{cite web|title=XVIII Century|url=http://www.genealogy.ro/cont/20c.htm|work=Banat's Historical Chronology for the last Millennium|publisher=Genealogy RO Group|accessdate=2011-06-22}}</ref>
* Establishment of [[Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases|The Mineral Water Hospital]] in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath, England]].

==Metallurgy==
* July 1 – [[William Champion (metallurgist)|William Champion]] of [[Bristol]] [[patent]]s a process to distill [[zinc]] from [[Calamine (mineral)|calamine]] using [[charcoal]] in a [[smelter]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Bennet|last=Woodcroft|authorlink=Bennet Woodcroft|title=Titles of Patents of Invention, Chronologically Arranged|location=London|publisher=Queen's Printing Office|year=1854|pages=104-105}}</ref>

==Technology==
* June 24 – [[Lewis Paul]] and [[John Wyatt (inventor)|John Wyatt]] obtain an English patent for roller [[cotton-spinning machinery]], leading to the establishment of mechanised [[Paul-Wyatt cotton mills]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|last=Baker|first=John Leon|date=2004|id=30106|title=Wyatt, John (1700–1766)}}</ref>
* [[Jacques de Vaucanson]] presents the world's first [[automaton]], ''The Flute Player'' (1737) to the [[French Academy of Sciences]].
* [[Black Forest]] clockmaker [[Franz Ketterer]] produces one of the earliest [[cuckoo clock]]s.

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[James Valoue]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=21 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

==Births==
* November 15 – [[William Herschel]], [[Germany|German]]-born [[astronomer]] (died [[1822 in science|1822]])

==Deaths==
* June 21 – [[Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend]], [[English people|English]] [[agriculturalist]] (born [[1674 in science|1674]])
* September 23 – [[Herman Boerhaave]], [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[physician]] (born [[1668 in science|1668]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1738 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1730s in science]]