Editing 1761 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1761|science}}
{{Science year nav|1761}}

The year '''1761 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* June 6 – The first [[transit of Venus]] since [[Edmond Halley]] suggested that its observation could determine the distance from the [[Earth]] to the [[Sun]]. [[Joseph-Nicolas Delisle]] set up a 62-station network for observing the transit. Those taking part included:
** [[Nathaniel Bliss]] at the [[Royal Greenwich Observatory]] near London
** [[César-François Cassini de Thury|César Cassini de Thury]] in [[Vienna]]
** [[Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche]] in [[Tobolsk]], [[Siberia]]
** [[Jeremiah Dixon]] and [[Charles Mason]] in [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]] (they had originally planned to go to [[Bencoolen (city)|Bengcoolen]], [[Sumatra]])
** [[Maximilian Hell]] in [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]], [[Norway]]
** [[Joseph de Lalande]] in [[Paris]]
** [[Tobias Mayer]] in [[Göttingen]]
** [[Nevil Maskelyne]] on [[Saint Helena]]
** [[Alexandre Pingré]] on [[Rodrigues (island)|Rodrigues Island]] (where he makes the last record of the [[Rodrigues parrot]])
** [[John Winthrop (educator)|John Winthrop]] in [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]]
** [[Mikhail Lomonosov]], who finds the first evidence that the planet has an [[celestial body atmosphere|atmosphere]]
[[Guillaume Le Gentil]], who had hoped to observe from [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]] in [[India]], is prevented from doing so due to the [[Seven Years' War]] and [[Ruđer Bošković]] arrives late in [[Istanbul|Constantinople]].

==Botany==
* Louis Gérard publishes ''Flora Gallo-Provincialis'', the first [[Flora (publication)|flora]] arranged according to natural classification.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Roger L.|last=Williams|title=Gerard and Jaume: Two Neglected Figures in the History of Jussiaean Classification|jstor=1220932|journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]|volume=37|year=1988|pages=2–34|doi=10.2307/1220932 }}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* [[Johan Gottschalk Wallerius]] publishes his pioneering work in [[agricultural chemistry]], ''Agriculturae fundamenta chemica'' (''{{lang|sv|Åkerbrukets chemiska grunder}}'').

==Mathematics==
* [[Johann Heinrich Lambert]] gives a [[proof that π is irrational]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lambert|first=Johann Heinrich|title=Mémoire sur quelques propriétés remarquables des quantités transcendentes circulaires et logarithmiques|publication-date=1768|year=1762|journal=Histoire de l'Académie|publication-place=Berlin|volume=XVII|pages=265–322}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* [[Leopold Auenbrugger]] publishes ''Novum ex Percussione Thoracis Humani Interni Pectoris Morbos Detegendi'' in Vienna, for the first time advocating [[Percussion (medicine)|percussion]] of the chest as a diagnostic measure.
* [[Giovanni Battista Morgagni]] publishes ''{{lang|la|De Sedibus et causis morborum per anatomem indagatis}}'' ("Of the seats and causes of diseases investigated through anatomy", published in Venice), a pioneering work of [[anatomical pathology]].
* [[Samuel-Auguste Tissot]] publishes ''Avis au peuple sur sa santé'', a popular text of the century.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Patrick|last=Singy|title=The popularization of medicine in the eighteenth century: writing, reading, and rewriting Samuel Auguste Tissot's ''Avis au peuple sur sa santé''|doi=10.1086/656073|jstor=656073|journal=[[The Journal of Modern History]]|volume=82|year=2010|pages=769–800}}</ref>

=== Veterinary medicine ===
* August 4 – [[Claude Bourgelat]] founds the first [[veterinary school]], in [[Lyon]]; courses begin in [[1762 in science|1762]].

==Technology==
* Opening of [[Matthew Boulton]]'s [[Soho Manufactory]] in England.
* The British [[Royal Navy]] first experiments with the [[copper sheathing]] of its warship hulls.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harris|first=J. R.|title=Copper and shipping in the eighteenth century|journal=Economic History Review|volume=19|pages=550–68|year=1966}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: not awarded<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==
* January 17 – [[Sir James Hall, 4th Baronet|James Hall]] (died [[1832 in science|1832]]), [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[geologist]] and [[physicist]].
* January 19 – [[Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet]] (died [[1807 in science|1807]]), French [[naturalist]] and [[physician]].
* February 1 – [[Christiaan Hendrik Persoon]] (died [[1836 in science|1836]]), [[South Africa]]n-born [[Pomerania]]n/[[Dutch people|Dutch]] [[mycologist]].
* February 4 – [[Blasius Merrem]] (died [[1824 in science|1824]]), German [[zoologist]].
* June 7 – [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]] (died [[1821 in science|1821]]), Scottish-born [[civil engineer]].
* October 27 – [[Matthew Baillie]] (died [[1823 in science|1823]]), Scottish-born [[pathologist]].
* November 30 – [[Smithson Tennant]] (died [[1815 in science|1815]]), [[English people|English]] [[chemist]].
* December 21 – [[Jean-Louis Pons]] (died [[1831 in science|1831]]), [[French people|French]] [[astronomer]].
* December 25 – [[William Gregor]] (died [[1817 in science|1817]]), [[Cornish people|Cornish]] [[mineralogist]].

==Deaths==
* January 4 – [[Stephen Hales]] (born [[1677 in science|1677]]), English [[physiologist]] and clergyman.
* March 21 – [[Pierre Fauchard]] (born [[1679 in science|1679]]), French [[physician]] and "father of modern dentistry".<ref>{{Cite web |language=fr |author=Jean-François Vincent |title=Fauchard, Pierre  |publisher=Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Santé, Université de Paris (Base biographique) |url=https://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/histoire/biographies/index.php?cle=6108 |access-date=2021-02-08 |website=www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr}}</ref>
* April 7 – [[Thomas Bayes]] (born c. [[1702 in science|1702]]), English [[mathematician]].
* May 14 – [[Thomas Simpson]] (born [[1710 in science|1710]]), British mathematician.
* November – [[Giovanni Poleni]] (born c. [[1683 in science|1683]]), [[Italians|Italian]] mathematician and [[physicist]].
* November 30 – [[John Dollond]] (born [[1706 in science|1706]]), English optician.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1761 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1760s in science]]