Editing 1797 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1797|science}}
{{Science year nav|1797}}

The year '''1797 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Chemistry==
* [[Smithson Tennant]] demonstrates that [[diamond]] is a pure form of [[carbon]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNJQok6N9_MC&pg=PA7|pages=7–10|title=The Diamond Makers|last=Hazen|first=R. M|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-521-65474-2}}</ref>
* [[Louis Nicolas Vauquelin]] discovers [[chromium]].
* [[Joseph Proust]] proposes the [[law of definite proportions]], which states that elements always combine in small, whole number ratios to form compounds.<ref>{{cite web |title=Proust, Joseph Louis (1754–1826) |work=100 Distinguished Chemists |publisher=European Association for Chemical and Molecular Science |year=2005 |url=http://www.euchems.org/Distinguished/19thCentury/proustlouis.asp |accessdate=2007-02-23 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515224050/http://www.euchems.org/Distinguished/19thCentury/proustlouis.asp| archivedate=2008-05-15}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] publishes his ''Théorie des fonctions analytiques''.

==Physics==
* [[Giovanni Battista Venturi]] describes the [[Venturi effect]].<ref>''Recherches expérimentales sur le principe de la communication latérale du mouvement dans les fluides'' (Paris).</ref><ref>Kent, Walter G. (1912) [https://archive.org/stream/appreciationoftw00kentrich/appreciationoftw00kentrich_djvu.txt%201746,%20Clemens%20Herschel,%20Born%201842. "An Appreciation of Two Great Workers in Hydraulics, Giovanni Battista Venturi, Born 1746, Clemens Herschel, Born 1842".]</ref>

==Technology==
* October 22 – [[André-Jacques Garnerin]] carries out the first descent using a frameless parachute, a {{nobr|980 m}} (3,200 feet) drop from a [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloon]] in Paris.
* English naval engineer [[Samuel Bentham]] applies for patents covering several machines to produce [[wood veneer]]s; in his patent applications, he describes the concept of laminating several layers of veneer with glue to form a thicker piece – the first description of what in modern times becomes known as [[plywood]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Plywood|url=https://madeupinbritain.uk/Plywood|work=Made up in Britain|access-date=2024-12-02}}</ref>

==Zoology==
* [[Thomas Bewick]] publishes the first volume, ''Land Birds'', of his ''[[History of British Birds]]''.

==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==
[[File:Frederick William Hope.gif|right|thumb|[[Frederick William Hope]]]]
[[File:CharlesLyell.jpg|thumb|right|[[Charles Lyell]]]]
* January 3 – [[Frederick William Hope]], British [[zoologist]] (died [[1862 in science|1862]])
* January 4 – [[Wilhelm Beer]], [[Prussia]]n [[astronomer]] (died [[1850 in science|1850]])
* February – [[Joseph Adhemar|Joseph-Alphonse Adhémar]], French [[mathematician]] (died [[1862 in science|1862]])
* February 2 – [[Joseph Guislain]], [[Flemish people|Flemish]] [[psychiatrist]] (died [[1860 in science|1860]])
* February 5 – [[Jean-Marie Duhamel]], French [[mathematician]] and [[physicist]] (died [[1872 in science|1872]])
* March 10 – [[George Poulett Scrope]], British [[geologist]] and [[economist]] (died [[1876 in science|1876]])
* March 21 – [[Johann Andreas Wagner]], German [[Paleontology|paleontologist]], [[Zoology|zoologist]] and [[Archeology|archeologist]] (died [[1861 in science|1861]])
* April 29 – [[George Don]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[botanist]] (died [[1856 in science|1856]])
* May 2 – [[Abraham Gesner]], [[Canadians|Canadian]] inventor of [[kerosene]] (died [[1864 in science|1864]])
* May 30 – [[Karl Friedrich Naumann]], German [[geologist]] and [[mineralogist]] (died [[1873 in science|1873]])
* July 14 – [[James Scott Bowerbank]], British [[naturalist]], [[geologist]] and [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] (died [[1877 in science|1877]])
* July 26 – [[William Hutton (1797–1860)|William Hutton]], British [[geologist]] and [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] (died [[1860 in science|1860]])
* August 23 – [[Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant]], French [[mechanician]] and [[mathematician]] (died [[1886 in science|1886]])
* August 31 – [[James Ferguson (American astronomer)|James Ferguson]], Scottish-born American [[astronomer]] (died [[1867 in science|1867]])
* September 1 – [[Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut]], French [[chemist]] (died [[1881 in science|1881]])
* September 10 – [[Carl Gustaf Mosander]], Swedish chemist (died [[1858 in science|1858]])
* September 17 – [[Heinrich Kuhl]], German [[zoologist]] (died [[1821 in science|1821]])
* October 4 – [[Félix Savary]], French [[astronomer]] (died [[1841 in science|1841]])
* October 5 – [[John Gardner Wilkinson]], British [[Egyptology|egyptologist]] (died [[1875 in science|1875]])
* November 14 – [[Charles Lyell]], Scottish [[geologist]] (died [[1875 in science|1875]])
* November 20 - [[Mary Buckland]], British paleontologist and marine biologist (died [[1857 in science|1857]])
* December 3
** [[Margaretta Morris]], American entomologist  (died [[1867 in science|1867]])
** [[Andrew Smith (zoologist)|Andrew Smith]], Scottish military surgeon, explorer, ethnologist and zoologist (died [[1872 in science|1872]])
* December 17 – [[Joseph Henry]], American scientist (died [[1878 in science|1878]])
* December 23 – [[Adrien-Henri de Jussieu]], French [[botanist]] (died [[1853 in science|1853]])

==Deaths==
* March 16 – [[Cristina Roccati]], Italian scholar in physics (born [[1732 in science|1732]])
* March 26 – [[James Hutton]], Scottish geologist (born [[1726 in science|1726]])
* June 13 – [[Samuel-Auguste Tissot]], [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[physician]] (born [[1728 in science|1728]])
* August 29 – [[Joseph Wright of Derby|Joseph Wright]], [[English people|English]] painter of scientific subjects (born [[1734 in science|1734]])
* ''date unknown''  – [[Wang Zhenyi (astronomer)|Wang Zhenyi]], [[Chinese people|Chinese]] Qing dynasty female astronomer and poet (born [[1768 in science|1768]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1797 in science| ]]
[[Category:18th century in science]]
[[Category:1790s in science]]