Editing 1796 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1796|science}}
{{Science year nav|1796}}

The year '''1796 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Astronomy==
* [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] publishes ''Exposition du système du monde'', his work on astronomy (mainly celestial mechanics) following [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] and [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]]. He develops an analytical theory of tides, deduces the mass of the Moon, improves the calculation of cosmic orbits, and predicts that Saturn's rings will be found to rotate. Most notably, he propounds the modern [[nebular hypothesis]], independently outlined by [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]].

==Chemistry==
* Rev. [[James Parker (cement maker)|James Parker]] is granted a patent in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] for [[Roman cement]] ("A certain Cement or Terras to be used in Aquatic and other Buildings and Stucco Work").

==Exploration==
* June 21 – [[Mungo Park (explorer)|Mungo Park]] becomes the first European to reach the [[Niger River]].<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=978-0-304-35730-7| page=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/346 346]}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* This is a productive year for the [[German people|German]] mathematician [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]] (born [[1777 in science|1777]]) and his work in [[number theory]]:<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunnington|first=G. Waldo|title=Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Mathematical Association of America|edition=new|year=2004|isbn=978-0-88385-538-6|oclc=53933110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Tord|title=Carl Friedrich Gauss: a Biography|location=Cambridge, MA|publisher=MIT Press|year=1970|isbn=978-0-262-08040-8|oclc=185662235|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/carlfriedrichgau00tord}}</ref>
** March 30 – He obtains conditions for the constructibility by ruler and compass of regular [[polygon]]s, including the [[heptadecagon]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Carl Friedrich|last=Gauss|chapter=§§365–366|title=Disquisitiones Arithmeticae|location=Leipzig|year=1801|title-link=Disquisitiones Arithmeticae}}</ref>
** April 8 – He becomes the first to prove the [[quadratic reciprocity]] law, enabling determination of the solvability of any [[quadratic equation]] in [[modular arithmetic]].
** May 31 – He puts forward his [[prime number theorem]] on the distribution of [[prime number]]s among the integers.
** July 10 – He discovers that every positive integer is representable as a sum of at most three [[triangular numbers]], noting in his diary "[[Eureka (word)|Heureka]]! num&nbsp;=&nbsp;Δ&nbsp;+&nbsp;Δ&nbsp;+&nbsp;Δ."
** October 1 – He publishes a result on the number of solutions of [[polynomial]]s with [[coefficient]]s in [[finite field]]s.
* [[Adrien-Marie Legendre]] conjectures the [[prime number theorem]].

==Medicine==
* May 14 – [[Edward Jenner]] administers the first [[smallpox]] [[vaccination]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Waldman |first=Thomas A. |year=2003 |url=http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nm/journal/v9/n3/full/nm0303-269.html&filetype=pdf |title=Immunotherapy: past, present and future |format=PDF |journal=[[Nature Medicine]] |volume=9 |pages=269–277 |doi=10.1038/nm0303-269 |pmid=12612576 |issue=3 |s2cid=9745527 |accessdate=2011-07-18 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303133316/http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=%2Fnm%2Fjournal%2Fv9%2Fn3%2Ffull%2Fnm0303-269.html&filetype=pdf |archivedate=March 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Franz Joseph Gall]] develops his theory of '[[cranioscopy]]', a forerunner of [[phrenology]].<ref>{{cite video|last=Graham|first=Patrick|year=2001|title=Phrenology: revealing the mysteries of the mind|medium=videorecording (DVD)|location=Richmond Hill, Ont.|publisher=American Home Treasures|isbn=0-7792-5135-0}}</ref>
* [[The Retreat]] established in [[York]], England; it pioneers the humane treatment of people with [[mental disorder]]s.

==Paleontology==
* April 4 – [[Georges Cuvier]] reads his paper ''Mémoires sur les espèces d'éléphants vivants et fossiles'' at the opening of the ''Institut National'' in [[Paris]], demonstrating that species had become [[extinct]].

==Technology==
* Completion of the first [[cast iron]] [[Navigable aqueduct|aqueducts]], on the [[canals of the United Kingdom|English canals]]
** February – Holmes Aqueduct on the [[Derby Canal]], designed by [[Benjamin Outram]] (demolished 1971).<ref>{{cite web|title=Benjamin Outram (1764–1805)|url=http://www.brocross.com/iwps/pages/outram/bn-outram.htm|accessdate=2011-07-18| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110718024035/http://www.brocross.com/iwps/pages/outram/bn-outram.htm| archivedate= 18 July 2011 <!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
** March – [[Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct]] on the [[Shrewsbury Canal]], designed by [[Thomas Telford]] (extant).<ref>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Brown|title=Thomas Telford|url=http://www.peter-quita.demon.co.uk/articles/Telford.pdf|accessdate=2011-07-18|archive-date=2011-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927235031/http://www.peter-quita.demon.co.uk/articles/Telford.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* August 9 – Opening to traffic of the [[Wearmouth Bridge (1796)|Wearmouth Bridge]] in [[England]], designed by [[Thomas Paine]] in cast iron. The second in this material built after that at [[Ironbridge]], but over twice as long, its span of 237 feet (72 m) makes it the world's longest single-span vehicular bridge extant at this date.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tyrrell|first=Henry Grattan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0pDAAAAIAAJ&q=210.%20The%20Sunderland%20bridge%20over%20the%20Wear%20at%20Wearmouth&pg=PA153|title=History of Bridge Engineering|pages=153–154|location=Chicago|year=1911|accessdate=2011-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Leonardo Fernández|last=Troyano|title=Bridge Engineering: a Global Perspective|publisher=Thomas Telford Publishing|location=London|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7277-3215-6|page=49}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=Wearside Online|title=Sunderland Wearmouth Bridge|url=http://www.wearsideonline.com/Sunderland_Wearmouth_Bridge.html|accessdate=2011-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127114349/http://www.wearsideonline.com/sunderland_wearmouth_bridge.html|archive-date=2011-11-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Printing by [[lithography]] is invented by [[Alois Senefelder]] in [[Bohemia]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Meggs|first=Philip B.|title=A History of Graphic Design|year=1998|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|page=146|isbn=978-0-471-29198-5}}</ref>

==Zoology==
* [[Pierre André Latreille]] publishes ''Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel''.

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[George Atwood]]<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 6 – [[John Stevens Henslow]], [[English people|English]] [[botanist]] (died [[1861 in science|1861]])
* February 10 – [[Henry De la Beche]], English [[geologist]] (died [[1855 in science|1855]])
* February 17 – [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]], [[Germans|German]] [[physician]], botanist and traveler in Japan (died [[1866 in science|1866]])
* February 22 – [[Adolphe Quetelet]], [[Belgians|Belgian]] [[mathematician]] and [[astronomer]] (died [[1874 in science|1874]])
* March 27 – [[Robert James Graves]], [[Irish people|Irish]] physician (died [[1853 in science|1853]])
* June 1 – [[Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot|Sadi Carnot]], [[French people|French]] [[physicist]] (died [[1832 in science|1832]])
* July 29 – [[Walter Hunt (inventor)|Walter Hunt]], [[Americans|American]] inventor (died [[1859 in science|1859]])
* August – [[William Marsden (surgeon)|William Marsden]], English [[surgeon]] (died [[1867 in science|1867]])
* August 15 – [[John Torrey]], American botanist (died [[1873 in science|1873]])
* August 21 – [[James Lick]], American philanthropist who endows the [[Lick Observatory]] (died [[1876 in science|1876]])
* September 19 – [[Richard Harlan]], American [[zoologist]] (died [[1843 in science|1843]])
* December ''(approx. date)'' – [[William Banting]], English [[undertaker]] and [[dietician]] (died [[1878 in science|1878]])

==Deaths==
* January 1 – [[Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde]], French mathematician known for [[Vandermonde matrices]].
* January 5 – [[Anna Barbara Reinhart]], Swiss mathematician (born [[1730 in science|1730]])
* May 1 – [[Alexandre Guy Pingré]], French astronomer and naval geographer (born [[1711 in science|1711]]
* December 11 – [[Johann Daniel Titius]], [[Germany|German]] [[astronomer]] (born [[1729 in science|1729]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1796 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1790s in science]]