Editing 1789 in science

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The year '''1789 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Anatomy==
* [[Antonio Scarpa]] publishes ''Anatomicæ disquisitiones de auditu et olfactu'', a classic treatise on the hearing and olfactory organs.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Benjamin Ward|last=Richardson|title=Antonio Scarpa, F.R.S., and Surgical Anatomy|journal=The Asclepiad|year=1886|volume=4|issue=16|pages=128–157|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xVCQGjm3ZEC|accessdate=2008-06-10|publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.|location=London}}</ref>

==Astronomy==
* August 28 and September 17 – [[William Herschel]] discovers [[Saturn]]'s moons [[Enceladus]] and [[Mimas (moon)|Mimas]], which he describes to the [[Royal Society]] of London on November 12.<ref>{{cite journal|first=William|last=Herschel|title=Account of the Discovery of a Sixth and Seventh Satellite of the Planet Saturn; with Remarks on the Construction of its Ring, its Atmosphere, its Rotation on an Axis, and its spheroidical Figure|journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]|location=London|volume=80|date=1 January 1790|pages=1–20|doi=10.1098/rstl.1790.0001|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Maximilian Hell]] establishes the [[constellation]]s ''[[Telescopium Herschelii|Tubus Hershelli Major]]'' and ''Minor'' in honour of Herschel's discovery of Uranus (constellations obsolete by 1930).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/telher.htm|title=Telescopium Herschelii|work=Star Tales|authorlink=Ian Ridpath|last=Ridpath|first=Ian|accessdate=2016-03-08}}</ref>

==Botany==
* [[Erasmus Darwin]] publishes his poem ''[[The Loves of the Plants]]'', a popular rendering of [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]' works.
* [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu]] publishes ''[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7125 Genera Plantarum: secundum ordines naturales disposita, juxta methodum in Horto regio parisiensi exaratam, anno M.DCC.LXXIV]'', providing a basis for the system of natural classification of [[flowering plant]]s largely still in use.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Jussieu, De |volume=15 |pages=593–4}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* [[Antoine Lavoisier]]'s ''[[Traité Élémentaire de Chimie|Traité élémentaire de chimie]]'' presents a unified view of new theories of chemistry, containing a clear statement of the law of [[conservation of mass]], defining the nature of [[Chemical element|elements]] and denying the existence of [[phlogiston]]. He also helps establish the [[scientific journal]] ''[[Annales de chimie et de physique|Annales de chimie]]'' which will still be published into the 21st century.
* German chemist [[Martin Heinrich Klaproth]] discovers the element [[Uranium]] while studying the mineral [[pitchblende]].

==Exploration==
* July 10 – [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]] reaches the [[Mackenzie River]] Delta.

==Mathematics==
* The [[Slovenes|Slovene]] mathematician [[Jurij Vega]] presents his [[Approximations of π|approximation of π]] to 140 decimal places of which the first 126 are correct,<ref>{{cite journal|first=Géorge |last=Vega |title=Détermination de la Demi-Circonférence d'un Cercle |journal=Nova Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae |volume=9 |date=1789-08-20 |location=[[Saint Petersburg]] |publisher=[[Russian Academy of Sciences|Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences]] |url=http://www.southernct.edu/~sandifer/Ed/History/Preprints/Talks/Jurij%20Vega/Vega%20math%20script.pdf |accessdate=2012-01-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040635/http://www.southernct.edu/~sandifer/Ed/History/Preprints/Talks/Jurij%20Vega/Vega%20math%20script.pdf |archivedate=2012-02-04 }}</ref> a feat not exceeded for more than half a century.

==Medicine==
* February 4 – [[James Parkinson]] gives the first description of human injury from [[lightning strike]]s, in a paper read to the [[Medical Society of London]].
* [[Andrew Duncan (doctor)|Andrew Duncan]] delivers the first lectures on [[forensic medicine]] in Britain, at the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Surgeons at the Bailey: English Forensic Medicine to 1878|last=Forbes|first=Thomas Rogers|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|year=1985|isbn=978-0-300-03338-0|page=7}}</ref>

==Technology==
* Rev. Dr. [[Edmund Cartwright]] [[patent]]s his first practical [[power loom]] in England and designs a [[wool combing machine]].
* [[William Wouldhave]] demonstrates a self-righting [[Lifeboat (rescue)|rescue lifeboat]] on the [[River Tyne]] in England.

==Zoology==
* Swiss naturalist [[François Huber]] devises the "leaf [[Beehive|hive]]" for the cultivation of honey bees.

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[William Morgan (actuary)|William Morgan]]<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 3 – [[Carl Gustav Carus]], German [[physiologist]] and landscape painter (died [[1869 in science|1869]])
* February 26 – [[Eaton Hodgkinson]], English [[structural engineer]] (died [[1861 in science|1861]])
* March 16 – [[Georg Ohm]], German [[physicist]] (died [[1854 in science|1854]])
* August 21 – [[Augustin-Louis Cauchy]], French [[mathematician]] (died [[1857 in science|1857]])
* September 4 – [[Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré]], French botanist (died [[1854 in science|1854]])
* September 28 – [[Richard Bright (physician)|Richard Bright]], English [[physician]] (died [[1858 in science|1858]])
* October 8 – [[William Swainson]], English [[naturalist]] (died [[1855 in science|1855]])
* October 25 – [[Heinrich Schwabe]], German [[astronomer]] (died [[1875 in science|1875]])

==Deaths==
* April 7 – [[Petrus Camper]], Dutch [[Comparative anatomy|comparative anatomist]] (born [[1722 in science|1722]])
* May 25 – [[Anders Dahl]], Swedish [[botanist]] for whom the [[dahlia]] is named (born [[1751 in science|1751]])
* ''undated'' – [[Angélique du Coudray]], French pioneer of modern [[midwifery]] (born [[1712 in science|1712]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1789 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1780s in science]]