Editing 1768 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1768|science}}
{{Science year nav|1768}}

[[File:Zamagna_-_Navis_aeria,_1768_-_4771931_980225_00005.tif|thumb|right]]
The year '''1768 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Biology==
* [[Steller's sea cow]] is hunted to extinction.
* [[Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti]] becomes [[Scientist|auctor]] of the [[class (biology)|class]] of [[reptiles]] through his ''{{lang|la|Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena}}'' on the poisonous function of reptiles and [[amphibian]]s. He also publishes ''{{lang|it|Il Dragone}}'' describing the [[olm]], one of the first accounts of a cave animal in the western world.
* [[Caspar Friedrich Wolff]] begins publication of "De Formatione Intestinarum" in the ''Mémoires'' of The Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences ([[Saint Petersburg]]), a significant work in the science of [[embryology]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Alexander|last=Petrunkevitch|title=Russia's Contribution to Science|journal=Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences|location=New Haven|volume=23|page=235|date=June 1920}}</ref>
* [[Lazzaro Spallanzani]] challenges the [[spontaneous generation]] of [[cell (biology)|cellular life]].

==Botany==
* [[Bougainvillea]] is first classified in [[Brazil]] by [[Philibert Commerçon]], the [[botanist]] accompanying [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]]'s  [[French Navy]] voyage of [[circumnavigation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1617|title=Genus: ''Bougainvillea'' Comm. ex Juss.|work=[[Germplasm Resources Information Network]]|publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]]|date=2010-07-07|accessdate=2010-12-14}}</ref>
* [[Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau]]'s ''Traité des arbres fruitiers'' is published in [[Paris]].

==Chemistry==
* March 17 – [[William Cookworthy]] is granted a [[patent]] for the manufacture of [[porcelain]] from [[kaolinite]] in [[England]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kalendar.demon.co.uk/cookworthy.htm|title=William Cookworthy 1705-80|work=Three Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol – The Story of Bristol Pottery and Porcelain|accessdate=2011-06-17| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110723002618/http://www.kalendar.demon.co.uk/cookworthy.htm| archivedate= 23 July 2011 <!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>

==Exploration==
* [[Peter Simon Pallas]] begins a scientific expedition through the [[Russian Empire]].

==Mathematics==
* [[Leonhard Euler]] uses [[closed curve]]s (which become known as [[Euler diagram]]s) to illustrate [[syllogism|syllogistic]] reasoning.<ref>{{cite book|last=Euler|first=L.|title=[[Letters to a German Princess|Lettres à une Princesse d'Allemagne]]|location=Saint Petersburg|year=1768}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Baron|first=Margaret E.|author-link=Margaret Baron|title=A Note on The Historical Development of Logic Diagrams: Leibniz, Euler and Venn|work=The Mathematical Gazette|jstor=3614533|publisher=[[Mathematical Association]]|volume=53|issue=383|pages=113–125|date=May 1969}}</ref>

==Events==
* [[Joseph Wright of Derby]] paints ''[[An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump]]''.

==Publications==
* [[Leonhard Euler]]'s ''[[Letters to a German Princess]]'' (''Lettres à une princesse d'Allemagne sur divers sujets de physique et de philosophie'') are first published, in [[Saint Petersburg]].

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Peter Woulfe]]<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==
* February 15 – [[Anthony Carlisle]], [[English people|English]] [[surgeon]] (died [[1840 in science|1840]])
* March 21 – [[Joseph Fourier]], [[French people|French]] [[mathematician]] (died [[1830 in science|1830]])
* March 22 – [[Bryan Donkin]], English engineer and inventor (died [[1855 in science|1855]])
* July 18
** [[Jean-Robert Argand]], French mathematician (died [[1822 in science|1822]])
** [[Giuseppangelo Fonzi]], Italian dentist (died [[1840 in science|1840]])<ref>{{treccani|giuseppangelo-lucinto-fonzi_(Dizionario-Biografico)|Giuseppangelo Lucinto Fonzi|Luciano Bonuzzi|1997}}</ref>
* ''date unknown''
** [[Marie-Jeanne de Lalande]], French [[astronomer]] (died [[1832 in science|1832]])
** [[Edward Donovan]], [[Anglo-Irish]] [[natural historian]] (died [[1837 in science|1837]])
** [[Amelia Griffiths]], English [[phycologist]] (died [[1858 in science|1858]])
** [[Wang Zhenyi (astronomer)|Wang Zhenyi]], female [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[astronomer]] (died [[1797 in science|1797]])

==Deaths==
* January 29 – [[John Martyn (botanist)|John Martyn]], [[English people|English]] [[botanist]] (born [[1699 in science|1699]])
* February 2 – [[Robert Smith (mathematician)|Robert Smith]], English mathematician (born [[1689 in science|1689]])
* April 29 – [[Georg Brandt]], [[Swedes|Swedish]] [[chemist]] (born [[1694 in science|1694]])
* June 15 – [[James Short (mathematician)|James Short]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] mathematician and [[optician]] (born [[1710 in science|1710]])
* September 2 – [[Antoine Deparcieux]], French mathematician (born [[1703 in science|1703]])
* September 11 – [[Joseph-Nicolas Delisle]], French [[astronomer]] (born [[1688 in science|1688]])
* October 1 – [[Robert Simson]], Scottish mathematician (born [[1687 in science|1687]])
* November 26 – [[Edward Stone (clergyman)|Edward Stone]], English [[polymath]] (born [[1702 in science|1702]])<ref>{{cite web|first=Ralph|last=Mann|title=Stone, Edward (1702–1768)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38014|accessdate=2011-02-17}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1768 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1760s in science]]