Editing 1770 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1770|science}}
{{Science year nav|1770}}

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The year '''1770 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* July 1 – [[Lexell's Comet]] passes closer to the Earth than any other [[comet]] in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.015 [[Astronomical unit|AU]]. It is observed by [[Charles Messier]] between June 14 and October 3.<ref>{{cite web|title=D/1770 L1 (Lexell)|url=http://cometography.com/pcomets/1770l1.html|work=Gary W. Kronk's Cometography|accessdate=2012-07-02}}</ref>

==Biology==
* [[Arthur Young (writer)|Arthur Young]] publishes ''A Course of Experimental Agriculture'' in [[England]].

==Chemistry==
* [[Benjamin Rush]] publishes ''Syllabus of a Course of Lectures on Chemistry'' in [[Philadelphia]], the first [[chemistry]] textbook in [[North America]].

==Exploration==
* March 26 – [[First voyage of James Cook]]: English explorer Captain [[James Cook]] and his crew aboard {{HMS|Endeavour}} complete the circumnavigation of [[New Zealand]].
* April 18 (April 19 by Cook's log)<ref>{{cite journal|first=Arthur R.|last=Hinks|title=Nautical time and civil date|journal=[[The Geographical Journal]]|volume=86|year=1935|pages=153–157|doi=10.2307/1786590}}</ref> – Captain Cook and his crew become the first recorded Europeans to encounter the eastern coastline of the [[Australia]]n continent.
* April 28 (April 29 by Cook's log) – Captain Cook drops anchor in a wide bay about 16&nbsp;km (10&nbsp;mi) south of the present city of [[Sydney]], Australia. Because the young [[botanist]] on board the ship, [[Joseph Banks]], discovers 30,000 specimens of plant life in the area, 1,600 of them unknown to European science, Cook names the place [[Botany Bay]] on May 7.
* August 22 (August 23 by Cook's log) – Captain Cook determines that [[New Holland (Australia)]] is not contiguous with [[New Guinea]].

==Mathematics==
* French mathematician and political scientist [[Jean-Charles de Borda]] formulates the ranked preferential [[electoral system]] which becomes known as the [[Borda count]].
* [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] discusses representations of integers by general algebraic forms; produces a tract on [[elimination theory]]; publishes his first paper on the general process for solving an [[algebraic equation]] of any degree via ''Lagrange [[Resolvent (Galois theory)|resolvents]] ''; and proves [[Bachet]]'s theorem that [[Lagrange's four-square theorem|every positive integer is the sum of four squares]].

==Medicine==
* January – Outbreak of [[Russian plague of 1770-1772]].
* October 18 – [[Radcliffe Infirmary]], [[Oxford]], [[England]], admits its first patients.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Radcliffe Infirmary|first=Christopher|last=Hibbert|title=The Encyclopædia of Oxford|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|year=1988|isbn=0-333-39917-X|pages=352–3}}</ref>

==Paleontology==
* The fossilised bones of a huge animal (later identified as a [[Mosasaur]]) are found in a quarry near [[Maastricht]] in the [[Netherlands]].

==Technology==
* July – [[James Hargreaves]] obtains a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] [[patent]] for the [[spinning jenny]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?LANGUAGE=eng&pageID=506|first=Nick|last=Harling|title=James Hargreaves c1720-1778|work=Cotton Town|accessdate=2011-06-21|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614135425/http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?LANGUAGE=eng&pageID=506|archivedate=14 June 2011<!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* The [[spring scale]] is created by [[Richard Salter (inventor)|Richard Salter]].<ref name="Hewison, p18" >{{cite book 
  |first=Christian H. |last=Hewison 
  |title=Locomotive Boiler Explosions
  |year=1983 
  |publisher=[[David and Charles]]
  |isbn=0-7153-8305-1 
  |ref=Hewison, Locomotive Boiler Explosions
  |pages=18
}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]]<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==
* April 9 – [[Thomas Johann Seebeck]], [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] [[physicist]] (died [[1831 in science|1831]])
* April 18 – [[William Nicol (geologist)|William Nicol]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[geologist]] (died [[1851 in science|1851]])
* November 5 – [[Sarah Guppy]], [[English people|English]] inventor (died [[1852 in science|1852]])

==Deaths==
* April 25 – Abbé [[Jean-Antoine Nollet]], [[French people|French]] physicist (born [[1700 in science|1700]])
* July 21 – [[Charlotta Frölich]], Swedish agronomist and historian (born [[1698 in science|1698]])
* September 9 – [[Bernhard Siegfried Albinus]], [[Germany|German]]-born [[anatomist]] in [[Holland]] (born [[1697 in science|1697]])
* December 5 – [[James Stirling (mathematician)|James Stirling]], Scottish [[mathematician]] (born [[1692 in science|1692]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1770 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1770s in science]]