Editing 1801 in science

{{Short description|Science-related events in the year 1801}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Year nav topic5|1801|science}}
{{Science year nav|1801}}

[[File:Virey_"Histoire_naturelle...",_1801;_plate_Wellcome_L0016297.jpg|thumb|right]]
The year '''1801 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.
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'''The year 1801 in [[science]] and [[technology]]''' included many events, some of which are listed here.

''See also:'' [[1800 in science]], [[1801|other events of 1801]], [[1802 in science]] and the [[list of years in science]].
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==Astronomy==
* January 1 – Italian astronomer [[Giuseppe Piazzi]] makes the first discovery of an [[asteroid]], [[Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres]], which is briefly considered to be the eighth planet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foderà Serio |first1=G. |last2=Manara |first2=A. |last3=Sicoli |first3=P. |editor1-last=Bottke |editor1-first=W. F. Jr. |editor2-last=Cellino |editor2-first=A. |editor3-last=Paolicchi |editor3-first=P. |editor4-last=Binzel |editor4-first=R. P. |year=2002 |chapter=Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres |title=Asteroids III |publisher=University of Arizona Press |pages=17–24 |location=Tucson |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3027.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=8 October 2007 <!--Added by DASHBot--> |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927221239/http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3027.pdf |archivedate=27 September 2007 <!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* July 11 – French astronomer [[Jean-Louis Pons]] makes the first of his 37 [[comet]] discoveries.
* [[Jérôme Lalande]] and his staff at the [[Paris Observatory]] publish the [[Astrometry|astrometric]] [[star catalogue]] ''[[Histoire céleste française]]''.

==Biology==
* [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] publishes ''Système des animaux sans vertèbres'' in [[Paris]], a major work on the classification of the group of animals he is the first to describe as [[invertebrate]]s. He is also first to separate the classes of [[arachnid]]s and [[crustacean]]s from [[insect]]s.
* [[André Michaux]] publishes ''Histoire des chênes de l'Amerique septentrionale'' ("History of the [[oak]]s of [[North America]]").

==Chemistry==
* November 26 – [[Charles Hatchett]] announces to the [[Royal Society]] his discovery of the chemical element [[niobium]], which he calls "[[columbium]]", in the ore [[columbite]] (it is renamed in 1950).<ref>{{cite book|chapter=1801|title=The People's Chronology|editor-last=Everett|editor-first= Jason M.|publisher=Thomson Gale|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[Vanadium]], a transition metal, is discovered by [[Andrés Manuel del Río]] in Mexico.
* [[René Just Haüy]] publishes his ''Traité de minéralogie''.

==Mathematics==
* [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]]'s textbook on [[number theory]], ''[[Disquisitiones Arithmeticae]]'', is published in Leipzig.
* [[William Playfair]] produces the first [[pie chart]] and circle graph, to show part-whole relations.<ref>{{citation|authorlink=Michael Friendly|first=Michael|last=Friendly|year=2008|url=http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/milestone/milestone.pdf|title=Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization|pages=13–14|accessdate=2008-07-07}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* [[Xavier Bichat]] publishes his ''Anatomie générale''.
* [[Philippe Pinel]] publishes ''Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale; ou la manie'', presenting his enlightened humane psychological approach to the management of [[psychiatric hospital]]s. Translated into English by [[David Daniel Davis|D. D. Davis]] as ''Treatise on Insanity'' in 1806, it is influential on both sides of the Atlantic during the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book|first=Michel|last=Foucault|authorlink=Michel Foucault|title=[[Madness and Civilization|Folie et déraison: histoire de la folie à l'âge classique]]|year=1961}}</ref>
* [[Antonio Scarpa]] publishes ''Saggio di osservazioni e d'esperienze sulle principali malattie degli occhi'', earning him the title "father of [[Italy|Italian]] [[ophthalmology]]".<ref>{{cite book|first=Anton|last=Sebastian |author-link=Anton Sebastian|year=1999|title=A Dictionary of the History of Medicine|publisher=Informa Health Care|isbn=978-1-85070-021-0}}</ref>
* [[Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring]] publishes ''Abbildungen des menschlichen Auges'', including the first description of the [[macula]] in the [[retina]] of the [[human eye]].

==Physics==
* [[Dalton's law]]: [[John Dalton]] observes that the total [[pressure]] exerted by a [[gas]]eous mixture is equal to the sum of the [[partial pressure]]s of each individual component in a gas mixture.
* [[Ultraviolet]] radiation is discovered by [[Johann Wilhelm Ritter]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Armin|last=Hermann|year=1987|chapter=Unity and metamorphosis of forces (1800–1850): Schelling, Oersted and Faraday|title=Symmetries in Physics (1600–1980) |editor1-last=Doncel|editor1-first=M. G. |editor2-last=Hermann |editor2-first=A. |editor3-last=Michel |editor3-first=L. |editor4-last=Pais |editor4-first=A. |publisher=Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona|pages=51–62}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=Jan|last1=Frercksa|last2=Weberb |first2=Heiko |last3=Wiesenfeldt |first3=Gerhard |year=2009 |title=Reception and discovery: the nature of Johann Wilhelm Ritter's invisible rays |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A |volume=40|number=2|pages=143–156}}</ref>
* In optics, interference between light beams is discovered by [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]], showing the [[light wave|wave]] nature of light.

==Technology==
* July – [[Eli Whitney]] demonstrates before the [[United States Congress]] the advantages of the system of [[interchangeable parts]] in the manufacture of firearms.<ref>{{cite web|last=Van Dusen|first=Albert E.|year=2003|title=Eli Whitney|work=Laptop Encyclopedia of Connecticut History|publisher=CTHeritage.org|url=http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ct1763_1818/whitney.htm|accessdate=2011-12-24}}</ref>
* October 20 – First patent for the Fourdrinier continuous [[paper machine]] in England.
* December 24 – [[Cornish people|Cornish]] engineers [[Richard Trevithick]] and [[Andrew Vivian]] demonstrate "Puffing Devil", their steam-powered road locomotive, in [[Camborne]], England.<ref>{{cite book|title=British Steam|publisher=Igloo Books|date=2016|pages=10–13}}</ref>
* [[Joseph-Marie Jacquard]] develops the [[Jacquard Loom]], in which holes strategically punched in a pasteboard card direct the movement of needles, thread, and fabric.
* The first iron (chain) [[suspension bridge]] is built by [[James Finley (engineer)|James Finley]] at Jacob's Creek in [[Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Iron Wire of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge|publisher=Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute|url=http://www.si.edu/mci/english/research/past_projects/iron_wire_bridge.html| accessdate=18 April 2011<!--Added by DASHBot-->| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430064802/http://www.si.edu/mci/english/research/past_projects/iron_wire_bridge.html|archivedate=30 April 2011<!--Added by DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* The [[xaenorphica]], a bow-stringed instrument with a keyboard, is invented by C. L. Röllig of [[Vienna]] (the strings are set in vibration by [[violin]] bows).

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Astley Paston Cooper]]<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 22 – [[Friedrich Clemens Gerke|Friedrich Gerke]], [[German people|German]] pioneer of [[telegraphy]] (died [[1888 in science|1888]])
* April 19 – [[Gustav Fechner]], German [[psychologist]] (died [[1887 in science|1887]])
* May 17 – [[Lovisa Åhrberg]], [[Swedes|Swedish]] [[surgeon]] (died [[1881 in science|1881]])
* June 16 – [[Julius Plücker]], German [[mathematician]] and [[physicist]] (died [[1868 in science|1868]])
* July 14 – [[Johannes Peter Müller]], German [[physiologist]] (died [[1858 in science|1858]])
* July 31 – [[George Biddell Airy]], [[English people|English]] [[astronomer]] (died [[1892 in science|1892]])
* August 16 – [[Jacques Etienne Chevalley de Rivaz]], Swiss-born physician (died [[1863 in science|1863]])
* September 21 – [[Moritz von Jacobi]], German-born electrical engineer (died [[1874 in science|1874]])
* October 14 – [[Joseph Plateau]], Belgian physicist (died [[1883 in science|1883]])

==Deaths==
* May 17 – [[William Heberden]], English [[physician]] (born [[1710 in science|1710]])
* [[Honoré Blanc]], [[French people|French]] [[gunsmith]] (born [[1736 in science|1736]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1801 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1800s in science]]