Editing 1839 in science

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{{Science year nav|1839}}

The year '''1839 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* January – The first [[parallax]] measurement of the distance to [[Alpha Centauri]] is published by [[Thomas James Henderson|Thomas Henderson]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=David|last=Gavine|title=Henderson, Thomas (1798–1844)|edition=Online|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12915|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/12915|accessdate=2014-04-25}}</ref>
* January 2 – The first photograph of the [[Moon]] is taken by [[Louis Daguerre]].<ref>{{cite web|title=January 2, 1839: First Daguerreotype of the Moon|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201301/physicshistory.cfm|work=This Month in Physics History|publisher=[[American Physical Society]]|accessdate=2016-07-30}}</ref>

==Biology==
* January 29 – English naturalist [[Charles Darwin]] marries his cousin [[Emma Wedgwood]].
* [[Theodor Schwann]] proposes that all living matter is made up of [[biological cell|cells]].
* The [[beetle]] subfamily [[Oxyporinae]] is discovered by [[Wilhelm Ferdinand Erichson]].

==Chemistry==
* [[Carl Mosander]] discovers [[lanthanum]].

==Exploration==
* May 1 – Start of [[Eyre's 1839 expeditions|Eyre's expeditions]] to the interior of [[South Australia]].
* September 19 – [[James Clark Ross]] sets off on the first scientific expedition to survey [[Antarctica]].
* Publication of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle|Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle under the Command of Captain FitzRoy, R.N., from 1832 to 1839]]''.

==Geology==
* [[Roderick Murchison]] publishes ''The Silurian System''.
* December 24 – An enormous [[landslide]] occurs at [[Axmouth]] in the English county of [[Devon]], creating the [[Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff]]. A report by geologists [[William Daniel Conybeare]] and [[William Buckland]] is one of the earliest scientific descriptions of such an event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jurassiccoast.com/277/the-coast-uncovered-30/explore-the-coast:-a-walk-through-time-141/axmouth-to-lyme-regis:-the-undercliff-357.html|title=Axmouth to Lyme Regis: The Undercliff, The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site|accessdate=2007-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021500/http://www.jurassiccoast.com/277/the-coast-uncovered-30/explore-the-coast:-a-walk-through-time-141/axmouth-to-lyme-regis:-the-undercliff-357.html|archive-date=2007-09-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* June–September – Dr [[John Conolly]] abolishes the physical restraint of the insane at [[St Bernard's Hospital, Hanwell|Middlesex County Asylum]] (at [[Hanwell]] near London).

==Technology==
* January 9 – The [[French Academy of Sciences]] announces the [[Daguerreotype]] [[photography]] process.
* January 25 – [[Henry Fox Talbot|H. Fox Talbot]] shows his "photogenic drawings" at the [[Royal Institution]].
* February 24 – [[William Otis]] receives a [[patent]] for the [[steam shovel]].
* April 9 – The world's first commercial electric [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] line comes into operation alongside the [[Great Western Railway]] in [[England]].
* May 29 – [[Mungo Ponton]] presents his discovery of the light-sensitive quality of [[sodium dichromate]] as a method of permanent [[photography]].<ref>''[[Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal]]''.</ref>
* November 24 – [[James Nasmyth]] makes his first sketch of a [[steam hammer]] design.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Boutmy|journal=Engineering News|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsYhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA59|date=1885-01-24|location=New York|title=Who Invented the Steam Hammer?|page=59|accessdate=2024-11-01}}</ref>
* [[Michael Faraday]] publishes ''Experimental Researches in Electricity''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14986|title=Experimental Researches in Electricity|accessdate=2007-09-12}}</ref> clarifying the true nature of [[electricity]].
* Invention of the [[Grove cell|Grove]] fuel cell by [[William Robert Grove|William Grove]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2967c/f503.table|title=Note sur une pile voltaïque d'une grande énergie, construite par M. Grove; communication de M. Becquerel|journal=[[Comptes Rendus]]|year=1839|volume=8|page=497}}</ref>
* Development of vulcanized rubber by [[Charles Goodyear]].
* Development of [[Babbitt metal]] by [[Isaac Babbitt]].
* Invention of the Polonceau [[truss]] for roof construction by [[Camille Polonceau]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Stefan M.|last=Holzer|title=The Polonceau Roof and Its Analysis|journal=International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology|publisher=Newcomen Society|volume=80|year=2010|pages=22–54|doi=10.1179/175812109X12547331530066|s2cid=110387074}}</ref>
* Claimed invention of the rear-wheel driven bicycle by [[Kirkpatrick Macmillan]] in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1812-1878)|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/macmillan_kirkpatrick.shtml|work=Historic Figures|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=2011-02-12}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|Robert Brown]]<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>
* [[Wollaston Medal]]: [[Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg]]

==Births==
* January 26 &ndash; [[Rachel Lloyd (chemist)|Rachel Lloyd]] (d. [[1900]]), American chemist.
* January 27 – [[Marie-Adolphe Carnot]] (died [[1920 in science|1920]]), [[French people|French]] [[chemist]] and mining engineer.
* February 11
** [[Josiah Willard Gibbs]] (died [[1903 in science|1903]]), [[United States|American]] [[theoretical physicist]] and chemist.
** [[Almon Strowger]] (died [[1902 in science|1902]]), American [[telecommunications engineer]].
* February 15 – [[Hieronymus Georg Zeuthen]] (died 1920), [[Danes|Danish]] [[mathematician]].
* March 8 – [[Josephine Cochrane]] (died [[1913 in science|1913]]), American inventor of the first commercially successful dishwasher.
* March 16 – [[Sully Prudhomme]] (died [[1907 in science|1907]]), French engineer and poet, recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]].
* April 4 – [[James Blyth (engineer)|James Blyth]] (died [[1906 in science|1906]]), [[Scottish people|Scottish]] electrical engineer.
* April 12 – [[Nikolai Przhevalsky]] (died [[1888 in science|1888]]), [[Russia]]n-born [[Polish people|Polish]] [[List of explorers|explorer]].
* May 8 – [[George Miller Beard]] (died [[1883 in science|1883]]), American [[neurologist]].
* July 17 – [[Ephraim Shay]] (died [[1916 in science|1916]]), American steam locomotive engineer.
* September 10 – [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] (died [[1914 in science|1914]]), American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist.

==Deaths==
* January 22 – [[Christian Ramsay]], Lady Dalhousie (born [[1786 in science|1786]]), [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[botanist]].
* April 8 – [[Pierre Prévost (physicist)|Pierre Prévost]] (born [[1751 in science|1751]]), [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[physicist]].
* June 27 – [[Allan Cunningham (botanist)|Allan Cunningham]] (born [[1791 in science|1791]]), [[English people|English]] botanist and [[List of explorers|explorer]].
* August 28 – [[William Smith (geologist)|William Smith]] (born [[1769 in science|1769]]), English [[geologist]].
* August 10 – [[Sir John St Aubyn, 5th Baronet]] (born [[1758 in science|1758]]), English fossil collector.
* September 29 – [[Friedrich Mohs]] (born [[1773 in science|1773]]), [[German people|German]] [[mineralogist]].
* October 24 – Sir [[William Charles Ellis]] (born [[1780 in science|1780]]), English psychiatric physician.
* November 15 – [[William Murdoch]] (born [[1754 in science|1754]]), Scottish-born [[inventor]] and [[technician]].
* December 24 – [[Davies Gilbert]] (born [[1767 in science|1767]]), English promoter of science.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1839 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1830s in science]]