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1769 in science
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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> {{Year nav topic5|1769|science}} {{Science year nav|1769}} The year '''1769 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below. ==Astronomy== * March 4 – [[French people|French]] astronomer [[Charles Messier]] first records the [[Orion Nebula]] (''[[Messier objects|Messier]] 42''). * June 3 – [[Transit of Venus]] is observed from many places in order to obtain data for measuring the distance from the [[Earth]] to the [[Sun]]. Those taking part include ** [[Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche]] at [[San José del Cabo]], [[Baja California]] ** [[James Cook]] and [[Charles Green (astronomer)|Charles Green]] on [[Tahiti]] ** [[Jeremiah Dixon]] and [[William Bayly (astronomer)|William Bayly]] in northern [[Norway]], Dixon at [[Hammerfest (town)|Hammerfest]] and Bayly at [[North Cape, Norway|North Cape]] ** [[Maximilian Hell]] and [[János Sajnovics]] in [[Vardø (town)|Vardø]], Norway ** [[Guillaume Le Gentil]] in [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]], [[India]]: Le Gentil had hoped to go to [[Manila]] in the [[Philippines]] but was turned away by the local Spanish colonial governor. The weather in Pondicherry is cloudy that day. Le Gentil had also missed the 1761 transit through bad luck. ** [[Alexandre Guy Pingré]] in [[Haiti]] ** [[William Wales (astronomer)|William Wales]] and [[Joseph Dymond]] at [[Prince of Wales Fort]] on [[Hudson Bay]] ** [[Anders Johan Lexell]] and [[Christian Mayer (astronomer)|Christian Mayer]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]; with other members of [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] at eight other locations in the [[Russian Empire]] ** Members of the [[American Philosophical Society]] at three locations The transit is followed five hours later by a total [[solar eclipse]] visible from Britain. * November 9 – Transit of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]. James Cook observes this from Mercury Bay in [[New Zealand]]. * [[Pluto|Pluto's]] 8th complete orbit around the Sun from its present-day position ==Chemistry== * [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]] discovers a method of mass-producing [[phosphorus]]. * Approximate date – [[Britannia metal]] is first produced, in [[Sheffield]], England.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], [[Micropædia]]|year=2002|edition=15th}}</ref> [[Image:CugnotAppleton.jpg|thumb|320px|right|[[Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot|Cugnot]]'s first steam-wagon, or ''fardier'', of 1769.]] ==Technology== * April 29 – [[James Watt]] is granted a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] [[patent]] for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in [[Watt steam engine|steam engine]]s" – the separate condenser,<ref>Patent 913; specification accepted January 5.</ref> a key improvement (first devised by Watt in 1765) which stimulates the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Alan|last2=Palmer|first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=224–225|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref> In September he completes a full-size experimental engine at [[Kinneil House]] in Scotland. * July 3 – [[Richard Arkwright]] is granted a British patent for a water-powered [[spinning frame]] able to spin thread mechanically.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/325|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/325 325]}}</ref> * October 23 – [[Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot]] demonstrates a steam-powered artillery tractor (or '[[automobile]]') in [[France]] (''see drawing'').<ref>{{cite web|title=A Concise History of the Traction Engine|url=http://steam-up.co.uk/traction_engine_history.htm|work=Steam Up|accessdate=2014-10-15}}</ref> * [[Wolfgang von Kempelen]] begins development of [[Wolfgang von Kempelen's speaking machine|his speaking machine]]. ==Exploration== * March 16 – [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]] returns to [[Saint-Malo]] following a three-year [[circumnavigation]] of the world with the ships ''[[French frigate La Boudeuse (1766)|La Boudeuse]]'' and ''[[French fluyt Étoile (1767)|Étoile]]'', with the loss of only seven out of 330 men. ==Awards== * [[Copley Medal]]: [[William Hewson (surgeon)|William Hewson]]<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 1 ** [[Marie-Louise Lachapelle]], French [[midwife]] (died [[1821 in science|1821]]) ** [[Jane Marcet]], née Haldimand, English popular science writer (died [[1858 in science|1858]]) * March 23 – [[William Smith (geologist)|William Smith]], English geologist (died [[1839 in science|1839]]) * March 29 – [[Friedrich Accum]], German chemist (died [[1838 in science|1838]]) * April 25 – [[Marc Isambard Brunel]], French-born engineer (died [[1849 in science|1849]]) * August 23 – [[Georges Cuvier]], French zoologist (died [[1832 in science|1832]]) * September 14 – [[Alexander von Humboldt]], German naturalist and explorer (died [[1859 in science|1859]]) ==Deaths== ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:1769 in science| ]] [[Category:18th century in science]] [[Category:1760s in science]]
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