Editing 1774 in science

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{{Science year nav|1774}}

The year '''1774 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Johann Elert Bode]] discovers the galaxy [[Messier 81]].
* [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] publishes a paper on the motion of the nodes of a planet's [[orbit]].

==Biology==
* [[Italians|Italian]] [[physicist]] [[Abbé]] Bonaventura Corti publishes ''Osservazioni microscopiche sulla tremella e sulla circulazione del fluido in una pianta acquajuola'' in [[Lucca]], including his discovery of [[cyclosis]] in [[plant cell]]s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Arthur|last=Hughes|title=A History of Cytology|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcytolog00hugh|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Abelard-Schuman|year=1959|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofcytolog00hugh/page/41 41]}}</ref>
* [[French people|French]] [[physician]] [[Antoine-Augustin Parmentier|Antoine Parmentier]] publishes ''Examen chymique des pommes de terres'' in [[Paris]], analysing the nutritional value of the [[potato]].

==Chemistry==
* August 1 – [[Joseph Priestley]], working at [[Bowood House]], [[Wiltshire]], [[England]], isolates [[oxygen]] in the form of a [[gas]], which he calls "dephlogisticated air".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Priestley|first=Joseph|jstor=106209|title=An Account of Further Discoveries in Air|journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]|volume=65|year=1775|pages=384–94|doi=10.1098/rstl.1775.0039|doi-access=}}</ref>
* [[Antoine Lavoisier]] publishes his first book, a literature review on the composition of air, ''Opuscules physiques et chimiques''.
* [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]] discovers "dephlogisticated muriatic acid" ([[chlorine]]), [[manganese]] and [[barium]].

==Exploration==
* [[Second voyage of James Cook]]
** June 16/17 – English explorer [[James Cook|Captain Cook]] becomes the first European to sight (and name) [[Palmerston Island]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]].
** September 4 – Cook becomes the first European to sight (and name) the island of [[New Caledonia]] in [[Melanesia]]. 
** October 10 – Cook becomes the first European to sight (and name) [[Norfolk Island]] in the Pacific Ocean, uninhabited at this date.

==Mathematics==
* [[Pierre-Simon Laplace|P.-S. Laplace]] publishes ''Mémoire sur la probabilité des causes par les événements'', including a restatement of [[Bayes' theorem]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Theory That Would Not Die|url=https://archive.org/details/theorythatwouldn0000mcgr|url-access=registration|first=Sharon Bertsch|last=McGrayne|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-300-16969-0}}</ref>

==Medicine and physiology==
* [[William Hunter (anatomist)|William Hunter]]'s ''Anatomia uteri humani gravidi tabulis illustrata | The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus exhibited in figures'' is published by [[John Baskerville]] in [[Birmingham]], [[England]].
* [[Sugita Genpaku]]'s ''[[Kaitai Shinsho]]'' ("New Text on Anatomy"), based on a Dutch publication, is published with illustrations in [[Japan]], the first modern anatomy textbook produced there.

==Physics==
* The [[Schiehallion experiment]] is carried out by [[Nevil Maskelyne]] to determine the mean density of the Earth.<ref>"An account of Observations made on the Mountain Schehallien for finding its attraction". ''[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]'' (London) 6 July 1775.</ref>

==Technology==
* January 27 – [[John Wilkinson (industrialist)|John Wilkinson]] patents a method for [[Boring (manufacturing)|boring]] [[cannon]] from the solid, subsequently utilised for accurate boring of [[steam engine]] cylinders.<ref>{{cite web|first=J. R.|last=Harris|title=Wilkinson, John (1728–1808)|work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29428|accessdate=2011-01-14}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>
* [[Jesse Ramsden]] produces an advanced circular [[dividing engine]] with the support of the [[Board of Longitude]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Daniel J.|last=Boorstin|authorlink=Daniel J. Boorstin|title=The Discoverers: a history of man's search to know his world and himself|url=https://archive.org/details/discoverers00boor|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Random House|year=1983|isbn=978-0-394-40229-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Daumas|first=Maurice|title=Les Instruments scientifiques aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles|location=Paris|publisher=Presses Universitaires de France|year=1953}}</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==
* April 21 – [[Jean-Baptiste Biot]] (died [[1862 in science|1862]]), French [[physicist]].
* April 24 – [[Jean Marc Gaspard Itard]] (died [[1838 in science|1838]]), French [[otorhinolaryngologist]].
* April 28 – [[Francis Baily]] (died [[1844 in science|1844]]), English [[astronomer]].
* May 7 – [[Francis Beaufort]] (died [[1856 in science|1856]]), Irish-born [[hydrographer]].
* May 28 – [[Edward Charles Howard|Edward Howard]] (died [[1816 in science|1816]]), English [[chemist]].
* August 18 – [[Meriwether Lewis]] (died [[1809 in science|1809]]), American [[List of explorers|explorer]].
* September 26 – [[Johnny Appleseed|John Chapman]] (died [[1845 in science|1845]]), American [[Plant nursery|nurseryman]].
* November 12 – [[Charles Bell]] (died [[1842 in science|1842]]), Scottish-born [[anatomist]].
* December 12 – [[William Henry (chemist)|William Henry]] (died [[1836 in science|1836]]), English chemist.

==Deaths==
* February 4 – [[Charles Marie de La Condamine]], [[French people|French]] [[geographer]] (born [[1701 in science|1701]])
* May 1 – [[William Hewson (surgeon)|William Hewson]], English [[surgeon]], [[anatomist]] and [[physiologist]], "father of [[haematology]]" (born [[1739 in science|1739]])
* July 9 – [[Anna Morandi Manzolini]], [[Italian people|Italian]] anatomist (born [[1714 in science|1714]])<ref>{{cite book|first=Rebecca|last=Messbarge|title=The Lady Anatomist: The Life and Work of Anna Morandi Manzolini|location=Chicago|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|year=2019|page=168|isbn=978-0-22652-083-4}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1774 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1770s in science]]