Editing 1812 in science

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The year '''1812 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Chemistry==
* [[Humphry Davy]] publishes ''[https://archive.org/details/elementschemica00davygoog/page/n17 <!-- pg=1 --> Elements of Chemical Philosophy]'' in London.
* [[John Davy (chemist)|John Davy]] first describes the synthesis of [[phosgene]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=On a gaseous Compound of carbonic Oxide and Chlorine|first=John|last=Davy|journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]|location=London|volume=102|date=6 February 1812|pages=144–151|doi=10.1098/rstl.1812.0008|jstor=107310|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Friedrich Mohs]] introduces his system of classifying minerals and his [[Mohs scale of mineral hardness|scale of mineral hardness]].
* Heinrich Vogel (1778–1867) recognizes that [[glucose]] is a product of hydrolyzing [[lactose]].<ref>Vogel (1812). [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433062722768;view=1up;seq=492 "Sur le sucre liquide d'amidon, et sur la transmutation des matières douces en sucre fermentescible"] (On the liquid sugar of starch, and on the transformation of sweet materials into fermentable sugars). ''Annales de chemie et de physique'' series 1 '''82''': 148–164, especially pp. 156–158; [https://books.google.com/books?id=yKuZAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA125 "Ueber die Verwandlung der Stärke und andrer Körper in Zucker"] (On the conversion of starches and other substances into sugar). ''Annalen der Physik'' new series '''42''':123–134, especially pp. 129–131.</ref>

==Geophysics==
* February 7 – The last [[New Madrid earthquake]] strikes [[New Madrid, Missouri]], with an estimated [[moment magnitude scale|moment magnitude]] of over 8.
* March 26 – An [[1812 Caracas earthquake|earthquake]] destroys [[Caracas]], [[Venezuela]].

==Mathematics, statistics and metrology==
* February 11 – [[Massachusetts]] [[governor]] [[Elbridge Gerry]] invents [[gerrymandering]].
* February 12 – [[Napoleon]] authorises the usage of ''[[Mesures usuelles]]'', the basis of the [[Metric System]].
* [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] publishes ''Théorie analytique des probabilités'' in which he lays down many fundamental results in [[statistics]].

==Medicine==
* January – ''[[The New England Journal of Medicine]]'' is founded in [[Boston]], by Dr [[John Collins Warren (surgeon, born 1778)|John Collins Warren]] as the ''New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery and the Collateral Branches of Medical Science''.<ref>{{cite journal|author =Campion, E.|title=The ''Journal'' from 1812 to 1989|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|year=2010|volume=363|issue=12|pages=1175–1176|doi=10.1056/nejme1009367|display-authors=etal|pmid=20843253|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* January 21 – John Parkinson and his father [[James Parkinson|James]] first describe [[appendicitis]] and resultant [[peritonitis]] in English.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Parkinson, J. |title=Case of diseased appendix vermiformis|journal=Medico-Chirurgical Transactions|year=1812|volume=3|pages=57–58|doi=10.1177/095952871200300105|pmid=20895178|pmc=2128895}}</ref>
* [[Benjamin Rush]] publishes ''Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind'' in [[Philadelphia]], the first textbook on [[psychiatry]] issued in the United States.<ref>{{The Timetables of Science|pages=261}}</ref>
* [[James Barry (surgeon)|James Barry]] qualifies as a [[medical doctor]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]]; born Margaret Ann Bulkley, this makes her the first [[British people|British]] woman with such a qualification.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/viewFile/130/425 |title=Dr James Barry: The early years revealed |accessdate=2008-04-03 |first=Hercules Michael |last=du Preez |date=2008-01-14 |journal=[[South African Medical Journal]] |volume=98 |issue=4 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220134024/http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/viewFile/130/425 |archivedate=2012-02-20 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Cholera]] in [[Jessore (city)|Jessore]], India.
* [[Coffee]] is banned in Sweden.

==Paleontology==
* [[Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring]] publishes his description of ''[[Pterodactylus]]'' which he names ''Ornithocephalus antiquus''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=von Sömmerring|first=S. T.|year=1812|title=Über einen ''Ornithocephalus'' oder über das unbekannten Thier der Vorwelt, dessen Fossiles Gerippe Collini im 5. Bande der Actorum Academiae Theodoro-Palatinae nebst einer Abbildung in natürlicher Grösse im Jahre 1784 beschrieb, und welches Gerippe sich gegenwärtig in der Naturalien-Sammlung der königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München befindet|journal=Denkschriften der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-physikalische Classe|location=München|volume=3|pages=89–158}}</ref>
* [[Georges Cuvier]] publishes ''Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrupèdes'' in Paris.

==Technology==
* February 27 – British [[poet]] [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]] gives his first address as a member of the [[House of Lords]], in defense of [[Luddite]] violence against [[Industrialism]] in his home county of [[Nottinghamshire]].
* March 15 – Luddites attack the [[wool]] factory of [[Frank Vickerman]] in [[West Yorkshire]], England.
* May 25 – [[Felling mine disaster]]: Coal mine explosion at [[Felling (UK)|Felling]] [[colliery]] near [[Jarrow]], England – 96 dead. In the aftermath, physician [[William Reid Clanny]] invents a miners' [[safety lamp]].<ref>{{cite DNB|last=Bettany|first=George Thomas|wstitle=Clanny, William Reid}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Clanny|first=William Reid|title=An account of the trial of Dr Reid Clanny's lamp in some Newcastle coal mines|journal=Annals of Philosophy|volume=VII|year=1816|pages=368–373|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15907865}}</ref>
* August – [[Henry Bell (engineer)|Henry Bell]]'s {{PS|Comet}} begins a passenger service on the [[River Clyde]] in [[Scotland]], the first commercially successful [[steamboat]] service in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|title=Clyde Pleasure Steamers|first=Ian|last=McCrorie|publisher=Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd|location=Greenock|isbn=1-869850-00-9|year=1986}}</ref>
* August 12 – The [[Middleton Railway]], serving [[coal]] pits at [[Leeds]] in England, becomes the first to use [[steam locomotive]]s successfully in regular service. The first locomotive, ''[[Salamanca (locomotive)|Salamanca]]'', is also the first to use two [[Cylinder (steam locomotive)|cylinders]] and has a [[rack railway]] mechanism devised by [[John Blenkinsop]] and built by [[Matthew Murray]].<ref>{{cite book|author =Bushell, J.|title=The World's Oldest Railway: a history of the Middleton Railway|year=1975|publisher=Turntable Publications|location=Sheffield|isbn=0-902844-27-X}}</ref>
* August 19 – [[War of 1812]]: {{USS|Constitution}} defeats the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[frigate]] ''[[Guerrière]]'' off the coast of [[Nova Scotia]]. British shot is said to have bounced off ''Constitution'''s sides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".
* Philippe Girard invents a [[flax]]-spinning machine.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=1812|first=Bernard|last=Grun|title=The Timetables of History|edition=3rd|location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1991|isbn=0-671-74919-6|page=381|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/timetablesofhist1991grun}}</ref>
* The [[Old Oscar Pepper Distillery]] (the modern-day [[Labrot & Graham Distillery]]), the oldest [[Kentucky]] [[Bourbon whiskey]] distillery, is established along Glenn's Creek in [[Woodford County, Kentucky]].

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: Not awarded<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=21 July 2020 }}</ref>
* [[Humphry Davy]] receives a [[knighthood]]

==Births==
* March 12 – [[Joseph Prestwich]], English [[geologist]] (died [[1896 in science|1896]])
* March 20 – [[Charles Vincent Walker]], English [[telegraph]] engineer (died [[1882 in science|1882]])
* March 24 – [[Robert Gordon Latham]], English [[ethnologist]] and [[philologist]] (died [[1888 in science|1888]])
* May 10 – [[William Henry Barlow]], English railway [[civil engineer]] (died [[1902 in science|1902]])
* June 9 – [[Johann Gottfried Galle]], German [[astronomer]] (died [[1910 in science|1910]])
* September 12 – [[Richard March Hoe]], American inventor (died [[1886 in science|1886]])
* October 27 – [[Abraham Dee Bartlett]], English [[zoologist]] (died [[1897 in science|1897]])

==Deaths==
* February 24 – [[Étienne-Louis Malus]], French [[physicist]] (born [[1775 in science|1775]])
* April 7 – [[Robert Willan]], English [[dermatologist]] (born [[1757 in science|1757]])
* May 9 – [[Charles-Nicolas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt]], French [[naturalist]] (born [[1751 in science|1751]])
* June 22 – [[Richard Kirwan]], Irish scientist (born [[1733 in science|1733]])
* July 10 – [[Carl Ludwig Willdenow]], German [[botanist]] (born [[1765 in science|1765]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1812 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1810s in science]]