Editing 1851 in science

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{{Science year nav|1851}}

The year '''1851 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* February – First public exhibition of a [[Foucault pendulum]], at the Meridian of the [[Paris Observatory]], demonstrating the [[Earth's rotation]]. A few weeks later [[Léon Foucault|Foucault]] installs one at the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]].<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Tobin|title=The Life and Science of Léon Foucault, the Man who Proved the Earth Rotates|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-521-80855-3}}</ref>
[[File:1851 07 28 Berkowski.jpg|thumb|[[Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851]]: the first correctly exposed photograph of a solar eclipse, using the [[daguerreotype]] process.]]
* July 28 – [[Solar eclipse of July 28, 1851]]: Total [[solar eclipse]]. The first correctly exposed photograph, a [[daguerrotype]], of the [[solar corona]] is made during the total phase of the eclipse by Berkowski at [[Koenigsberg Observatory]] in [[Prussia]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=On the Berkowski daguerreotype (Königsberg, 1851 July 28): the first correctly-exposed photograph of the solar corona|last1=Schielicke|first1=Reinhard|last2=Wittmann|first2=Axel D.|journal=Acta Historica Astronomiae|volume=25|pages=128–147|year=2005|bibcode=2005AcHA...25..128S}}</ref> Astronomers [[Robert Grant (astronomer)|Robert Grant]] and [[William Swan (astonomer)|William Swan]] (of the [[United Kingdom]]) and [[Karl Ludwig von Littrow]] (of [[Austria]]) observe this eclipse and determine that [[solar prominence]]s are part of the Sun because the Moon is seen to cover and uncover them as it moves in front.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality2/TotalityApH.html|first1=Mark|last1=Littmann|first2=Ken|last2=Willcox|first3=Fred|last3=Espenak|title=Chronology of Discoveries about the Sun|work=MrEclipse.com|year=1999|accessdate=2012-06-06}}</ref>
* October 24 – [[Ariel (moon)|Ariel]] and [[Umbriel]], [[natural satellite|moons]] of [[Uranus]], were discovered by [[William Lassell]].<ref>''[[Astronomical Journal]]'' '''2'''(33):p. 70 (1851).</ref>
* The [[William Brydone Jack Observatory]] is completed at [[Fredericton]], [[New Brunswick]].

==Chemistry==
* March – [[English people|English]] sculptor [[Frederick Scott Archer]] makes public the [[Collodion#Wet plate collodion photography|wet plate collodion]] photographic process.<ref>''The Chemist'' March 1851.</ref>
* [[Julius Pintsch]] produces Pintsch gas.
* [[Charles-Adolphe Wurtz]] produces compound [[urea]]s.

==History of science and technology==
* [[George Wilson (chemist)|George Wilson]] publishes ''The Life of the Hon. Henry Cavendish''.

==Mathematics==
* [[Eugène Prouhet]] first applies the [[Thue–Morse sequence]] to [[number theory]].
* [[Bernhard Riemann]] provides a proof of [[Green's theorem]] in his inaugural dissertation.<ref>{{cite book|first=Bernhard|last=Riemann|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PpALAAAAYAAJ|title=Grundlagen für einen allgemeine Theorie der Functionen einer veränderlichen complexen Grösse [Basis for a general theory of functions of a variable complex quantity]|location=Göttingen (Germany)|publisher=Adalbert Rente|year=1867|pages=8–9}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* [[The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust|The Royal Marsden]] is established as the Free Cancer Hospital by surgeon [[William Marsden (surgeon)|William Marsden]] in London, the world's first specialist [[cancer]] hospital.
* The [[Keratometer]] is invented by the [[Germans|German]] [[physiologist]] [[Hermann von Helmholtz]].

==Physics==
* [[Hippolyte Fizeau]] carries out the [[Fizeau experiment]] to measure the relative speeds of light in moving water.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fizeau|first=H.|title=Sur les hypothèses relatives à l'éther lumineux|journal=[[Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences]]|location=Paris|volume=33|year=1851|pages=349–355|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k29901/f351.chemindefer}}</ref>

==Technology==
* November 13 – First protected [[Submarine communications cable|submarine telegraph cable]] laid, across the [[English Channel]].
* [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|William Armstrong]] introduces the weight-loaded [[hydraulic accumulator]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ian|last=McNeill|title=Hydraulic Power|location=London|publisher=Longman|year=1972|isbn=0-582-12797-1}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Richard Owen]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=23 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Wollaston Medal]] for geology: [[Adam Sedgwick]]

==Births==
* January 19 – [[Jacobus Kapteyn]] (died [[1922 in science|1922]]), Dutch [[astronomer]].
* February 15 – [[Spiru Haret]] (died [[1912 in science|1912]]), Romanian [[mathematician]], astronomer and politician.
* March 16 – [[Martinus Beijerinck]] (died [[1931 in science|1931]]), Dutch [[microbiologist]] and [[botanist]].
* April 12 – [[Edward Walter Maunder|E. Walter Maunder]] (died [[1928 in science|1928]]), English astronomer.
* July 8 – [[Arthur Evans]] (died [[1941 in science|1941]]), English [[archaeologist]].
* July 20 – [[Arnold Pick]] (died [[1924 in science|1924]]), Jewish Czech [[neurologist]].
* August 3 – [[George Francis FitzGerald|George FitzGerald]] (died [[1901 in science|1901]]), Irish mathematician.
* September 21 – [[Fanny Searls]] (died [[1938 in science|1939]]), American doctor and botanist.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tiehm |first=Arnold |title=Fanny Searls (1851-1939)| journal=Brittonia |volume=37 |number=1 |year=1985 |page=41| doi=10.1007/BF02809668|s2cid=87755152}}</ref>
* September 23 – [[Ellen Hayes]] (died [[1930 in science|1930]]), American mathematician and astronomer.

==Deaths==
* January 27 – [[John James Audubon]] (born [[1785 in science|1785]]), [[naturalist]] and [[illustrator]].
* February 18 – [[Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi]] (born [[1804 in science|1804]]), [[mathematician]].
* March 9 – [[Hans Christian Ørsted]] (born [[1777 in science|1777]]), [[physicist]].
* July 6 – [[Thomas Davenport (inventor)|Thomas Davenport]] (born [[1802 in science|1802]]), [[electrical engineer]].
* July 17 – [[John Farey, Jr.|John Farey]] (born [[1791 in science|1791]]), [[mechanical engineer]] and technical writer.
* September 2 – [[William Nicol (geologist)|William Nicol]] (born [[1770 in science|1770]]), [[geologist]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1851 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1850s in science]]