Editing 1841 in science

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{{Science year nav|1841}}

The year '''1841 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Biology==
* Rev. [[Miles Joseph Berkeley]] demonstrates that ''[[Phytophthora infestans]]'' (potato blight) is a fungal infection.
* [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]], first open to the public<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=264–266|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref> and [[William Jackson Hooker|William Hooker]] appointed director.
* [[John Gould]] begins publication of ''A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos''.

==Chemistry==
* [[Theobromine]] is first discovered in [[cacao bean|cacao]] beans by Russian chemist Alexander Woskresensky.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Woskresensky|first=A.|year=1842|title=Über das Theobromin|journal=Liebigs Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie|volume=41|pages=125–127|doi=10.1002/jlac.18420410117|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1426965}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Ernst|last=von Bibra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWqhC4djXSQC&q=Theobromine+1841&pg=PA67|title=Plant Intoxicants|accessdate=2011-04-13|page=67|isbn=9780892814985|date=February 1995}}</ref>
* [[Uranium]] is first isolated, by [[Eugène-Melchior Péligot]].
* [[Chemical Society|Chemical Society of London]] founded by [[Thomas Graham (chemist)|Thomas Graham]].
* [[Reinsch test]] for [[heavy metals]] discovered by Hugo Reinsch.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/prac.18410240132|title=Ueber das Verhalten des metallischen Kupfers zu einigen Metalllösungen|year=1841|last1=Reinsch|first1= H.|journal=[[Journal für praktische Chemie]]|volume=24|pages=244–250|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1427788}}</ref>

==Exploration==
* January 27 – The active [[volcano]] [[Mount Erebus]] in [[Antarctica]] is discovered and named by [[James Clark Ross]].<ref>Ross, ''Voyage to the Southern Seas'', '''1''', pp. 216–8.</ref>
* January 28 – Ross discovers the "Victoria Barrier", later known as the [[Ross Ice Shelf]].
* Ross additionally discovers the [[Ross Sea]], [[Victoria Land]] and [[Mount Terror (Antarctica)|Mount Terror]].

==Geology==
* [[Hugh Miller]] publishes ''The Old Red Sandstone''.
*  The first comprehensive [[geological map]] of France  is published by [[Ours-Pierre-Armand Petit-Dufrénoy|Dufrénoy]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Élie de Beaumont|Élie de Beaumont]], the result  of thirteen years of  investigations.

==Human sciences==
* November 13 – Scottish surgeon [[James Braid (surgeon)|James Braid]] attends his first demonstration of ''[[animal magnetism]]'' (given by [[Charles Lafontaine]] in [[Manchester]], England) which leads to Braid's study of the subject he eventually calls ''[[hypnotism]]''.

==Mathematics==
* [[Prussia]]n mathematician [[Karl Weierstrass]] discovers but does not publish the [[Laurent expansion theorem]].
* [[English people|English]] mathematician [[William Rutherford (mathematician)|William Rutherford]] calculates an [[Approximations of π|approximation of π]] to 208 decimal places of which the first 152 are correct.

==Physiology and medicine==
* [[Platelet]]s are first described from microscopic observation by [[George Gulliver]].

==Technology==
* February – [[Henry Fox Talbot|H. Fox Talbot]] obtains a patent in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] for the [[calotype]] process in photography.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn= 1-85986-000-1}}</ref>
* April 16 – [[Loring Coes]] patents the screw type [[wrench]] commonly known as the [[monkey wrench]] in the [[United States]].
* April 24 – [[Squire Whipple]] patents the iron [[tied-arch bridge|bowstring arch]] through [[truss bridge]] in the United States.<ref>{{US patent|2064}}</ref>
* Draughtsman William Howe and pattern-maker William Williams of [[Robert Stephenson and Company]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] originate [[Stephenson valve gear]] for the [[steam locomotive]].
* [[Joseph Whitworth]] introduces the [[British Standard Whitworth]] system of [[screw thread]]s in his paper ''On a Uniform System of Screw Threads''.
* [[United States|American]] artist John G. Rand invents the collapsible [[zinc]] [[oil paint]] [[Tube (container)|tube]], marketed by [[Winsor & Newton]] of [[London]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Painting Inventions|url=http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=a&a=i&ID=980|work=Humanities Web|date=2001-01-06|accessdate=2011-08-07}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Georg Ohm]]<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]]: [[Adolphe Theodore Brongniart]]

==Births==
* January 29 – [[Henry Morton Stanley]] (died [[1904 in science|1904]]), [[List of explorers|explorer]], [[journalist]].
* February 2 – [[François-Alphonse Forel]] (died [[1912 in science|1912]]), pioneer in the study of [[lake]]s.
* February 4 – [[Clément Ader]] (died [[1926 in science|1926]]), [[engineer]] and inventor, [[airplane]] pioneer.
* February 24 – [[Carl Gräbe]], (died [[1927 in science|1927]]) [[chemist]].
* March 6 – [[Alfred Cornu]] (died [[1902 in science|1902]]), [[physicist]].
* August 4 – [[W. H. Hudson]] (died [[1922 in science|1922]]), [[naturalist]].
* August 25 – [[Emil Theodor Kocher]] (died [[1917 in science|1917]]), [[1909 in science|1909]] winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]
* October 12 – [[Joseph O'Dwyer]] (died [[1898 in science|1898]]), physician
* October 26 – [[Theodor von Oppolzer]] (died [[1886 in science|1886]]), [[astronomer]].
* November 3 – [[Eugenius Warming|Eugen Warming]] (died [[1924 in science|1924]]), [[botanist]] and founder of [[ecology]].
* December 29 &ndash; [[Rosalie Fougelberg]] (d. 1911), Swedish dentist

==Deaths==
* April 22 – [[Charles Barbier]], inventor of a method of writing for the blind that was the inspiration for [[Braille]].
* May 16 – [[Marie Boivin]], French midwife, inventor and obstetrics writer (born [[1773 in science|1773]])
* May 31 – [[George Green (mathematician)|George Green]] (born [[1793 in science|1793]]), [[English people|English]] [[mathematician]].
* August 18 – [[Louis de Freycinet]] (born [[1779 in science|1779]]), explored [[coastal]] regions of [[Western Australia]].
* September 9 – [[Augustin Pyramus de Candolle]] (born [[1778 in science|1778]]), [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[botanist]].
* October 28 – [[Johan August Arfwedson]] (born [[1792 in science|1792]]), [[Swedes|Swedish]] [[chemist]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1841 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1840s in science]]