Editing 1834 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1834|science}}
{{Science year nav|1834}}

The year '''1834 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Events==
* March – [[William Whewell]] (anonymously) first publishes the term ''[[scientist]]'' in the ''[[Quarterly Review]]'', but notes it as "not generally palatable".<ref>{{cite web|title=scientist, n.|work=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] online version|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oed.com/Entry/172698|accessdate=2011-04-05 |date=March 2011}} {{OEDsub}} {{dead link|date=January 2016}}</ref>

==Astronomy==
* March 14 – [[John Herschel]] discovers the open cluster of stars now known as [[NGC 3603]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sher|first=D.|title=The Curious History of NGC 3603|journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada|volume=59|page=76|year=1965|bibcode=1965JRASC..59...67S}}</ref>
* [[Hermann Helmholtz]] proposes [[gravitational contraction]] as the [[energy]] source for the [[Sun]].
* [[Johann Heinrich von Mädler]] and [[Wilhelm Beer]] publish ''Mappa Selenographica'', the most complete map of the [[Moon]] up to this time.
* [[Thomas James Henderson|Thomas Henderson]] is appointed first [[Astronomer Royal for Scotland]].

==Biology==
* [[James Paget]] discovers in human muscle the parasitic worm that causes [[trichinosis]].
* [[Félix Dujardin]] proposes that single-cell animals should be classified in a group by themselves.

==Chemistry ==
* [[Phenol]] was discovered by [[Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge]], who extracted it (in impure form) from coal tar.

==Geology==
* The [[Triassic]] is named by [[Friedrich August von Alberti]] for the three distinct layers of [[redbed]]s, capped by [[chalk]], followed by black [[shale]]s that are found throughout [[Germany]] and Northwest [[Europe]], called the 'Trias'.
* [[The Great Devonian Controversy]] begins.<ref>{{cite book|authorlink=Martin J. S. Rudwick|last=Rudwick|first=Martin J. S.|title=The Great Devonian Controversy: The Shaping of Scientific Knowledge among Gentlemanly Specialists|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1985}}</ref>

==Paleontology==
* The large prehistoric whale [[Basilosaurus]] is discovered in [[Eocene]] rock deposits. It is presumed to be a large reptile.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2012|title=Evolution of Whales from Land to Sea|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=156|issue=3|pages=309–323|url=http://prod.lsa.umich.edu/content/dam/paleontology-assets/paleontology-documents/1560305Gingerich.pdf| last1 = Gingerich | first1 = P. D.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Notice of fossil bones found in the Tertiary formation of the State of Louisiana |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date=1834}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=†Basilosaurus Harlan 1834 (whale) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36681 |website=PBDB}}</ref>

==Mathematics==
* [[Charles Babbage]] begins the conceptual design of an "[[analytical engine]]", a mechanical forerunner of the modern [[computer]]. It will not be built in his lifetime.<ref>{{cite book|first=Anthony|last=Hyman|author-link=R. Anthony Hyman|title=[[Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1982|isbn=0-19-858170-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/computing_and_data_processing/1878-3.aspx|title=Babbage's Analytical Engine, 1834-1871 (Trial model)|publisher=[[Science Museum (London)]]|accessdate=2010-10-01|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920230519/http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/computing_and_data_processing/1878-3.aspx|archivedate=20 September 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Alan|last2=Palmer|first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=259–260|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref>

==Mechanics==
* [[Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi]] discovers his [[Jacobi ellipsoid|uniformly rotating self-gravitating ellipsoids]].
* [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[naval architect]] [[John Scott Russell]] first observes a nondecaying solitary [[wave]] (a [[soliton]], which he calls "the Wave of Translation") while watching a boat hauled through the water of the [[Union Canal (Scotland)|Union Canal]] near [[Edinburgh]], subsequently using a tank to study the dependence of solitary wave velocities on amplitude and liquid depth.<ref>{{citation|first=J. Scott|last=Russell|contribution=Report on waves|title=Fourteenth meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science|location=York |pages=311–390|url=http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/~chris/Scott-Russell/SR44.pdf|accessdate=2012-08-28 |date=September 1844}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* [[Joseph-François Malgaigne]] publishes ''Manuel de medecine operatoire''.
* [[St. Vincent's University Hospital|St. Vincent's Hospital]] is set up in [[Dublin]] by [[Mary Aikenhead]], staffed by the [[Religious Sisters of Charity]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Meenan|first=F. O. C.|year=1995|title=St Vincent's Hospital 1834–1994|location=Dublin|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|isbn=0-7171-2151-8}}</ref> the first [[hospital]] staffed by [[nun]]s in the [[English language|English]]-speaking world.

==Physics==
* [[Émile Clapeyron]] presents a formulation of the second law of thermodynamics.
* [[Michael Faraday]] publishes "On Electrical Decomposition" in the ''[[Royal Society|Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]'', in which he coins the words ''[[electrode]]'', ''[[anode]]'', ''[[cathode]]'', ''[[anion]]'', ''[[cation]]'', ''[[electrolyte]]'' and ''electrolyze''.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Michael | last = Faraday | s2cid = 116224057 | authorlink = Michael Faraday | year = 1834 | title = On Electrical Decomposition | url = http://www.chemteam.info/Chem-History/Faraday-electrochem.html | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society | doi = 10.1098/rstl.1834.0008 | volume=124 | pages=77–122| url-access = subscription }}</ref>
* [[Heinrich Lenz]] discovers [[Lenz's law]].
* [[Jean-Charles-Athanase Peltier]] discovers the [[Peltier effect]].

==Technology==
* June 21 – [[Cyrus McCormick]] receives his first [[patent]] for a mechanical [[reaper]], in the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite book|first=George|last=Iles|year=1912|edition=2nd|title=Leading American Inventors|location=New York|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|url=https://archive.org/details/leadingamericani00ilesrich|pages=276–314|chapter=Cyrus H. McCormick| accessdate= 31 December 2011 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>
* December 23 – English architect [[Joseph Hansom]] patents the [[Hansom cab]].<ref name=CBH/><ref>{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[Joseph Chaley]]’s Grand Pont Suspendu in [[Fribourg]] is the first [[suspension bridge]] with cables assembled in mid-air.<ref>{{cite book|last=Peters|first=Tom F.|author2=Andrea L.|title=Transitions in Engineering: Guillaume Henri Dufour and the early 19th century Cable Suspension Bridges|location=Basel|publisher=Birkhauser|year=1987|isbn=3-7643-1929-1}}</ref>
* [[Jacob Perkins]] creates a cooling machine that uses ice, an early [[refrigerator]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.softschools.com/timelines/inventions_of_the_1800s_timeline/262/ |title=Inventions of the 1800s timeline |work=softschools.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103452/http://www.softschools.com/timelines/inventions_of_the_1800s_timeline/262/ |archivedate=2015-05-18 }}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Giovanni Plana]]<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==
* January 7 – [[Johann Philipp Reis]] (died [[1874 in science|1874]]), German [[physicist]] and [[inventor]].
* January 15 – [[Frederick DuCane Godman]] (died [[1919 in science|1919]]), English [[lepidopterist]], [[entomologist]] and [[ornithologist]].
* January 17 – [[August Weismann]] (died [[1914 in science|1914]]), German [[biologist]].
* February 7 – [[Dmitri Mendeleev]] (died [[1907 in science|1907]]), Russian [[chemist]].
* February 16 – [[Ernst Haeckel]] (died [[1919 in science|1919]]), German [[zoologist]].
* February 20 (O.S. February 8) – Nikolai Kaufman (died [[1870 in science|1870]]), Russian [[botanist]].
* March 17 – [[Gottlieb Daimler]] (died [[1900 in science|1900]]), German [[mechanical engineer]] and [[automotive]] pioneer.
* April 30 – [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|John Lubbock]] (died [[1913 in science|1913]]), English [[Natural history|naturalist]] and [[archaeologist]].
* June 22 – [[William Chester Minor]] (died [[1920 in science|1920]]), Ceylonese-born American military [[surgeon]], [[lexicographer]] and murderer.
* July 6 – [[Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen]] (died [[1923 in science|1923]]), English [[Surveyor (surveying)|surveyor]], [[geologist]] and naturalist.
* August 5 – [[Ewald Hering]] (died [[1918 in science|1918]]), German [[physiologist]].
* August 10 – [[Maurice Raynaud]] (died [[1881 in science|1881]]), French [[physician]].
* August 22 – [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]] (died [[1906 in science|1906]]), American [[astronomer]].
* August 23 – [[Hugh Owen Thomas]] (died [[1891 in science|1891]]), Welsh-born [[orthopaedic surgeon]].
* August 29 – [[Hermann Sprengel]] (died [[1906 in science|1906]]), German-born chemist.
* September 30 – [[Carl Schorlemmer]] (died [[1892 in science|1892]]), German [[Organic chemistry|organic chemist]].
* December 15 – [[Charles Augustus Young]] (died [[1908 in science|1908]]), American astronomer.
* December 24 – [[Augustus George Vernon Harcourt]] (died 1919), English chemist.

==Deaths==
* January 8 – [[Jacques Labillardière]] (born [[1755 in science|1755]]), [[French people|French]] [[naturalist]].
* January 17 – [[Giovanni Aldini]] (born [[1762 in science|1762]]), [[Italians|Italian]] [[physicist]].
* February 16 – [[Lionel Lukin]] (born [[1742 in science|1742]]), [[English people|English]] [[inventor]].
* February 26 – [[Alois Senefelder]] (born [[1771 in science|1771]]), [[Germans|German]] inventor.
* July 12 – [[David Douglas (botanist)|David Douglas]] (born [[1799 in science|1799]]), [[Scotland|Scottish]]-born botanist and explorer.
* August 7 – [[Joseph Marie Jacquard]] (born [[1752 in science|1752]]), French inventor.
* September 9 – [[James Weddell]] (born [[1787 in science|1787]]), [[Anglo-Scot]]s [[seal hunter]] and [[Antarctic]] explorer.
* October 10 – [[Thomas Say]] (born 1787), [[Americans|American]] naturalist.
* November 27 – {{interlanguage link|Rosalie de Constant|fr}}, Swiss naturalist (born [[1758 in science|1758]])

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1834 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1830s in science]]