Editing 1818 in science

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The year '''1818 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* January 3 (21:52 UTC) – [[Venus]] [[Occultation|occults]] [[Jupiter]], last occultation of one [[planet]] by another before 22 November 2065.

==Chemistry==
* [[Pierre Joseph Pelletier]] and [[Joseph Bienaimé Caventou]] isolate the [[alkaloid]] [[strychnine]] in Paris.
* [[Louis Jacques Thénard]] discovers [[hydrogen peroxide]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=L. J.|last=Thénard|year=1818|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-N43AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA306|title=Observations sur des nouvelles combinaisons entre l'oxigène et divers acides|journal=[[Annales de chimie et de physique]] |series=2nd Series |volume=8|pages=306–312}}</ref>

==Exploration==
* [[John Ross (Arctic explorer)|John Ross]] sets sail in search of the [[Northwest Passage]].

==Medicine==
* September 25 – In [[London]], Dr [[James Blundell (physician)|James Blundell]] carries out the first [[blood transfusion]] using human blood.<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[Jean Esquirol]] produces reports urging greater [[medicalization]] in the treatment of [[insanity]] in [[France]].
* [[Carl Ferdinand von Graefe]] publishes his pioneering work on [[rhinoplasty]], ''Rhinoplastik''.

==Meteorology==
* [[Luke Howard]] begins publication of ''The Climate of London'', the first book on [[urban climatology]] in [[English language|English]], presenting new thinking on [[atmospheric electricity]] and the causes of [[Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Jim|last=Burton|title=Howard, Luke (1772–1864)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13928|accessdate=2011-09-30|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/13928}} </ref>
* [[Alexander Adie]] [[patent]]s the [[sympiesometer]].

==Physics==
* July 29 – French physicist [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel]] submits his prizewinning "Memoir on the [[Diffraction]] of Light" to the [[French Academy of Sciences]], precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of [[light]].

==Technology==
* January 2 – [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] inaugurated in [[London]].
* January 12 – The [[Dandy horse]] (''Laufmaschine'' bicycle) is invented by [[Karl Drais]] in [[Mannheim]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Patent for Drais' "Laufmaschine", the ancestor of all bicycle|url=https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/news/milestones/200jahrepatentfuerdasur-fahrrad/index.html|website=Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt|accessdate=2021-06-26}}</ref>
* February 3 – Jeremiah Chubb is granted a patent for the [[Chubb detector lock]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chubbarchive.co.uk/page5.html|work=Chubb Archive|title=A Brief History of Chubb 1818–1990s|access-date=2018-12-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Maurice|last=Baren|title=How Household Names Began|location=London|publisher=Michael O'Mara Books|year=1997|isbn=1-85479-257-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/howhouseholdname0000bare/page/43 43–5]|url=https://archive.org/details/howhouseholdname0000bare/page/43}}</ref>
* April 6 – [[Heinrich Stölzel]] and [[Friedrich Blühmel]] [[patent]] the first [[brass instrument valve]].
* Shipbuilder [[Thomas Morton (shipwright)|Thomas Morton]] of [[Leith]], Scotland, invents the [[patent slip]].
* Rev. [[Robert Stirling]] builds the first practical version of his [[Stirling engine]].
* [[Adam Ramage]] files a United States patent for an improved printing press.

==Publications==
* [[Benjamin Silliman]] begins publishing the ''[[American Journal of Science]]'', concentrating on [[geology]]; by the 21st century it will be the longest-running [[scientific journal]] issued in the [[United States]].

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Robert Seppings]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=22 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

==Births==
* April 8 – [[August Wilhelm von Hofmann]] (died [[1892 in science|1892]]), [[Germans|German]] [[chemist]].
* May 1 – [[Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair|Lyon Playfair]] (died [[1898 in science|1898]]), [[Scottish people|Scottish]] chemist.
* June 29 – [[Angelo Secchi]] (died [[1878 in science|1878]]), [[Italians|Italian]] [[astronomer]].
* July 1 – [[Ignaz Semmelweis]] (died [[1865 in science|1865]]), [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] [[physician]].
* August 1 – [[Maria Mitchell]] (died [[1889 in science|1889]]), [[Americans|American]] astronomer.
* September 27 – [[Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe|Hermann Kolbe]] (died [[1884 in science|1884]]), German chemist.
* December 24 – [[James Prescott Joule]] (died 1889), [[English people|English]] [[physicist]].

==Deaths==
* July 28 – [[Gaspard Monge]] (born [[1746 in science|1746]]), French [[mathematician]].
* August 11 – [[Ivan Kulibin|Ivan Petrovich Kulibin]] (born [[1735 in science|1735]]), Russian [[inventor]].
* [[Bryan Higgins]] (born [[1741 in science|1741]]), Irish-born chemist.
* [[William Jones (naturalist)|William Jones]] (born c. 1745), English [[lepidopterist]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1818 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1810s in science]]