Editing 1772 in science

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The year '''1772 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] finds the special-case solution to the [[three-body problem]] that becomes known as the [[Lagrangian point]]s.<ref>Presented to the [[Académie française]].</ref>

==Cartography==
* [[Johann Heinrich Lambert]] publishes seven new [[map projection]]s, including the [[Lambert conformal conic projection|Lambert conformal conic]], [[Transverse Mercator projection|transverse Mercator]] and [[Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection|Lambert azimuthal equal area]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lambert|first=Johann Heinrich|title=Ammerkungen und Zusatze zurder Land und Himmelscharten Entwerfung|year=1772|journal=Beiträge zum Gebrauche der Mathematik in deren Anwendung|volume=3|issue=6}} Reprint: {{cite web|title=Anmerkungen und Zusätze zur Entwerfung der Land- und Himmelscharten|publisher=W. Engelmann|year=1894|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/ABR2581.0001.001|format=xml|accessdate=2007-04-10}} Translation: {{cite book|title=Notes and Comments on the Composition of Terrestrial and Celestial Maps|year=1972|publisher=University of Michigan Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Snyder|first=John P.|title=Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1993|isbn=0-226-76747-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Snyder|first=John P.|title=Map Projections: a Working Manual|series=U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1395|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|year=1987|url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/pubs/pp/pp1395| accessdate=26 April 2011 <!--Added by DASHBot-->| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516070706/http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/pubs/pp/pp1395 | archivedate=May 16, 2008<!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* [[Daniel Rutherford]] isolates [[nitrogen]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/elementsofchemis0000lavo|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/elementsofchemis0000lavo/page/15 15]|title=Elements of chemistry, in a new systematic order: containing all the modern discoveries|last=Lavoisier|first=Antoine Laurent|authorlink=Antoine Lavoisier|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|year=1965|isbn=0-486-64624-6| accessdate=30 September 2010 <!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* [[Joseph Priestley]] synthesizes [[nitrous oxide]] as ''phlogisticated nitrous air''.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx?articleid=1973683|last=Keys|first=T. E.|title=The Development of Anesthesia|journal=Anesthesiology|year=1941|volume=2|pages=552–574|doi=10.1097/00000542-194109000-00008|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Antoine Lavoisier]] privately presents his own views on [[phlogiston theory]] to the [[French Academy of Sciences]].
* [[Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau]] demonstrates that metals gain weight on [[calcination]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Louis-Bernard|last=Guyton de Morveau|chapter=Dissertation dur la phlogistique|title=Digressions académiques, ou essais sur quelgues sujets de physique, de chymie & d'histoire naturelle|location=Dijon|publisher=Frantin|year=1772}}</ref>

==Earth sciences==
*  The [[Central England temperature]] (CET) record begins daily measurements of mean surface air temperatures in the Midlands region of England.<ref>{{cite web |title=UK's warmest year on record predicted |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30304611 |work=BBC|date=3 December 2014 |accessdate=3 December 2014 }}</ref>
* [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]] publishes ''Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and Other Volcano's: in a series of letters addressed to the Royal Society from the Honorable Sir William Hamilton'' (London).

==Mathematics==
* [[Euler]] confirms that <math>2^{31}-1</math> is a [[Mersenne prime]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Caldwell|first=Chris|url=http://primes.utm.edu/notes/by_year.html|title=The largest known prime by year|accessdate=2011-12-30}}</ref>
* The [[Marquis de Condorcet]] publishes his second significant paper on [[integral calculus]].

==Technology==
* May 28 – The [[Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal]] opens for traffic throughout in [[England]] from a junction with the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]] to the [[River Severn]] at [[Stourport]]. Engineered by [[James Brindley]], this is the first British trunk [[Canals of the United Kingdom|canal]] completed and its dimensions determine the size of boat used throughout the narrow canal network ({{convert|72|ft|m}} by {{convert|7|ft|m}}).<ref name="Hadfield,WM">{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Hadfield|authorlink=Charles Hadfield (historian)|title=The Canals of the West Midlands|edition=2nd|location=Newton Abbot|publisher=David & Charles|year=1969|isbn=0-7153-4660-1|page=50}}</ref>
* [[Andrew Meikle]] invents [[Windmill sail#Spring sails|spring sails]] for [[windmill]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://odur.let.rug.nl/polders/boekje/features.htm|publisher=Odur.net|title=The important exterior features of a windmill|accessdate=2008-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211113319/http://odur.let.rug.nl/polders/boekje/features.htm|archive-date=2012-02-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Publications==
* [[Joseph Priestley]] – ''The History and Present State of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light and Colours'' ("Optics")

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Joseph Priestley]]<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 11 – [[Thomas Webster (geologist)|Thomas Webster]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[geologist]] (died [[1844 in science|1844]])
* June 8 – [[Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)|Robert Stevenson]], Scottish [[lighthouse]] engineer (died [[1850 in science|1850]])
* April 15 – [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]], [[French people|French]] [[naturalist]] (died [[1844 in science|1844]])
* October 29 – [[Jean Henri Jaume Saint-Hilaire]], French [[botanist]] (died [[1845 in science|1845]])
* November 22 - [[Pierre Amable Jean-Baptiste Trannoy]],  French physician, hygienist and botanist (died [[1831 in science|1831]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Date of birth on the marriage certificate |url=https://archives.somme.fr/ark:/58483/fsxkrp6h3dlz/a8b20ce0-57b3-4988-9fd3-3057ba5bfc1e |website=archives.somme.fr |access-date=5 March 2021 |language=fr}}</ref>
* November 28 – [[Luke Howard]], [[English people|English]] [[meteorologist]] and manufacturing chemist (died [[1864 in science|1864]])
* December 25 – [[John Mackay (botanist)|John Mackay]], Scottish botanist (died [[1802 in science|1802]])

==Deaths==
* March 22 – [[John Canton]], [[English people|English]] [[physicist]] (born [[1718 in science|1718]])
* March 29 – [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[scientist]] and [[theologian]] (born [[1688 in science|1688]])
* September 30 – [[James Brindley]], English canal builder (born [[1716 in science|1716]])

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:1772 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1770s in science]]