Editing 1778 in science

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The year '''1778 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] delivers his treatise on [[comet]]ary [[Perturbation (astronomy)|perturbations]] to the [[Académie française]].

==Chemistry==
* [[Molybdenum]] discovered by [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]].
* [[Antoine Lavoisier]], considered "The father of modern chemistry",<ref>"Lavoisier, Antoine." ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 24 July 2007 [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9369846].</ref> recognizes and names oxygen, and recognizes its importance and role in combustion.<ref name=lavoisier>{{cite web |last=Weisstein |first=Eric W. |title=Lavoisier, Antoine (1743–1794) |work=Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography |publisher=Wolfram Research Products |year=1996 |url =http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Lavoisier.html |accessdate=2007-02-23}}</ref>

==Earth sciences and exploration==
* January 18 – On his [[Third voyage of James Cook|third voyage]], [[Captain (nautical)|Captain]] [[James Cook]], with ships [[HMS Resolution (1771)|HMS ''Resolution'']] and [[HMS Discovery (1774)|HMS ''Discovery'']], becomes the first European to view the [[Hawaiian Islands]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Collingridge|first=Vanessa|authorlink=Vanessa Collingridge|title=Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History's Greatest Explorer|location=London|year=2003|publisher=Ebury Press|isbn=0-09-188898-0}}</ref>
* March 6 – October 24 – Captain Cook explores and maps the [[Pacific Northwest]] coast of [[North America]] from [[Cape Foulweather]] ([[Oregon]]) to the [[Bering Strait]].
* [[James Rennell]] publishes a chart and memoir of the [[Agulhas Current]], one of the first contributions to scientific [[oceanography]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Andrew S.|last=Cook|title=Rennell, James (1742–1830)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23369|accessdate=2011-04-05|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/23369}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* [[John Hunter (surgeon)|John Hunter]] publishes ''The Natural History of the Human Teeth''.
* [[Samuel-Auguste Tissot]] begins publication of ''Traité des nerfs et de leurs maladies'', including a classical account of [[migraine]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=K.|last=Karbowski|date=April 1986|title=Samuel Auguste Tissot: his research on migraine|journal=[[Journal of Neurology]]|volume=233|issue=2|issn=0340-5354|pages=123–125|doi=10.1007/BF00313859|pmid=3517238|s2cid=24691943}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Pearce|first=J.M.S.|date=September 2000|title=Samuel-Auguste Tissot (1728-1797) and migraine|journal=[[Cephalalgia (journal)|Cephalalgia]]|volume=20|issue=7|pages=668–70|location=Norway|issn=0333-1024|pmid=11128826|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2982.2000.00100.x|s2cid=36466035}}</ref>
* [[Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring]] describes the organization of the [[cranial nerves]].
* Publication of ''Collection of observations on diseases and epidemic constitutions'' (''Collection d’observations sur les maladies et constitutions épidémiques''), by [[Louis Lépecq de La Clôture]], work consisting mainly of a 15-year observation of the relations between climate, geography and pathologies in [[Normandy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lépecq de La Cloture |first1=Louis |title=Collection d'observations sur les maladies et constitutions épidémiques: ouvrage qui expose une suite de quinze années d'observations, & dans lequel les épidémies, les constitutions régnantes & intercurrentes, sont liées (partie I) |date=1778 |publisher=Imprimerie privilégiée |location=Rouen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYqzJ4ToRt0C |access-date=28 February 2021 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lépecq de La Cloture |first1=Louis |title=Collection d'observations sur les maladies et constitutions épidémiques: ouvrage qui expose une suite de quinze années d'observations, & dans lequel les épidémies, les constitutions régnantes & intercurrentes, sont liées (partie II,III et IV) |date=1778 |publisher=Imprimerie privilégiée |location=Rouen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WyHbxb6AI_4C|access-date=28 February 2021 |language=fr}}</ref>

==Technology==
* [[Joseph Bramah]] [[patent]]s an improved design of [[flush toilet]] in [[London]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/331 331–332]}}</ref>
* The brothers [[Grubenmann|Hans Ulrich]] and [[Johannes Grubenmann]] complete a bridge across the [[Limmat]] at [[Wettingen]] in [[Switzerland]], a 60 m span which is the first known use of a [[true arch]] in a [[timber]] bridge.<ref>{{cite book|first=Leonardo Fernández|last=Troyano|title=Bridge Engineering: a Global Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0u5G8E3uPUAC&q=Wettingen+bridge+1778&pg=PA159|publisher=Thomas Telford Publishing|location=London|year=2003|isbn=0-7277-3215-3|pages=158–9|accessdate=2011-08-16}}</ref>

==Zoology==
* [[Petrus Camper]] publishes ''On the Points of Similarity between the Human Species, Quadrupeds, Birds, and Fish; with Rules for Drawing, founded on this Similarity'', an early work of [[comparative anatomy]].
* [[Johan Christian Fabricius]] publishes his ''Philosophia Entomologica'' in [[Hamburg]].<ref>{{cite journal|page=5|year=1967|last=Tuxen|first=S. L.|title=The entomologist J. C. Fabricius|journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]]|volume=12|doi=10.1146/annurev.en.12.010167.000245|quote=one of the most important books in entomology of all times}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Charles Hutton]]<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 4 – [[A. P. de Candolle]], [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[botanist]] (died [[1841 in science|1841]])
* May 18 – [[Andrew Ure]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[Industrial chemistry|industrial chemist]] and [[encyclopaedist]] (died [[1857 in science|1857]])
* December 6 – [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]], [[French people|French]] [[chemist]] and [[physicist]] (died [[1850 in science|1850]])
* December 17 – [[Humphry Davy]], [[English people|English]] chemist (died [[1829 in science|1829]])
* December 25 ''(bapt.)'' – [[Joseph Aspdin]], English inventor (died [[1855 in science|1855]])
* [[Maria Dalle Donne]], [[Bologna|Bolognese]] [[physician]] (died [[1842 in science|1842]])
* [[Anna Maria Walker]], Scottish botanist (died [[1852 in science|1852]])

==Deaths==
* January 10 – [[Carl Linnaeus]], [[Swedes|Swedish]] [[botanist]], first to develop standard nomenclature for naming species (born [[1707 in science|1707]])
* February 20 – [[Laura Bassi]], [[Italy|Italian]] [[scientist]] (born [[1711 in science|1711]])
* March 7 – [[Charles De Geer]], Swedish industrialist and [[entomologist]] (born [[1720 in science|1720]]) 
* May 6 – [[Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet]], [[France|French]] [[pharmacist]] and [[botanist]] (born 1720)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1778 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1770s in science]]