Editing 1861 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1861|science}}
{{Science year nav|1861}}

The year '''1861 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy==
* May 13 – [[Comet]] [[C/1861 J1]] (the "[[Great Comet]] of 1861") first observed from [[Australia]] by [[John Tebbutt]].

==Biology==
* [[Heinrich Anton de Bary|Anton de Bary]] publishes his first work on [[fungi]], describing [[sexual reproduction]] in ''[[Peronospora]]''.
* [[Charles Thorp]], [[Archdeacon of Durham]] (d. 1862), arranges purchase of some of the [[Farne Islands]] off the north-east coast of England and employment of a warden to protect threatened [[seabird]] species.

==Chemistry==
* March 30 – [[William Crookes]] announces his discovery of [[thallium]].
* [[Rubidium]] is discovered by [[Robert Bunsen]] and [[Gustav Kirchhoff]], in [[Heidelberg]], [[Germany]], in the [[mineral]] [[lepidolite]] through the use of their [[spectroscope]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chemische Analyse durch Spectralbeobachtungen|pages=337–381|first1=G.|last1=Kirchhoff|first2=R.|last2=Bunsen|doi=10.1002/andp.18611890702|journal=[[Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik und Chemie]]|volume=189|issue=7|year=1861|bibcode=1861AnP...189..337K|hdl=2027/hvd.32044080591324|url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/15657/1/spektral.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The discovery of the elements. XIII. Some spectroscopic discoveries|pages=1413–1434|last=Weeks|first=Mary Elvira|authorlink=Mary Elvira Weeks|doi=10.1021/ed009p1413|journal=[[Journal of Chemical Education]]|volume=9|issue=8|year=1932|bibcode=1932JChEd...9.1413W}}</ref>
* [[Aleksandr Butlerov]] is instrumental in creating the theory of [[chemical structure]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Kazansky, B. |editor2=Bykov, G. V. |title=Centenary of the Theory of Chemical Structure: collection of papers by A. M. Butlerov|location=Moscow|publisher=Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences|year=1961}}</ref>
* [[Johann Josef Loschmidt|Josef Loschmidt]] publishes ''Chemische Studien'', proposing two-dimensional representations for over 300 [[molecule]]s and recognising variations in atomic size.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rzepa|first=Henry S.|authorlink=Henry Rzepa|year=2005|url=http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/loschmidt/|title=Joseph Loschmidt: Structural formulae, 1861|accessdate=2011-05-23| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110516083227/http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/loschmidt/| archivedate=16 May 2011 | url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Ernest Solvay]] develops the [[Solvay process]] for the manufacture of soda ash ([[sodium carbonate]]).

==Earth sciences==
* [[Eduard Suess]] proposes the former existence of the [[supercontinent]] [[Gondwana]].

==History of science and technology==
* [[Boulton and Watt]] [[rotative beam engine]] of 1788 from the makers' [[Soho Foundry]] in the west midlands of England is acquired for the Museum of Patents, predecessor of the [[Science Museum, London]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rotative steam engine by Boulton and Watt, 1788|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co50948/rotative-steam-engine-by-boulton-and-watt-1788-beam-engine-steam-engine|work=Collection|publisher=Science Museum Group|accessdate=2021-02-28}}</ref>
* First volumes of [[Munk's Roll]] published.

==Medicine and physiology==
[[File:Broca's area - lateral view.png|thumb|[[Broca's area]] (in red)]]
* [[Paul Broca]] identifies the [[Broca's area|speech production center]] of the brain.
* [[Franciscus Donders]] introduces the term ''[[visual acuity]]''.
* [[Guillaume Duchenne]] describes [[Duchenne muscular dystrophy]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Who Named It?|WhoNamedIt?]]|title=Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne de Boulogne|url=http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/950.html|accessdate=2011-05-27|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525113429/http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/950.html|archivedate=2011-05-25|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Prosper Ménière]] reports the association of [[Vertigo (medical)|vertigo]] with [[inner ear]] disorders.
* [[Ádám Politzer]] publishes the technique of [[Politzerization]] used in [[otorhinolaryngology]].
* [[Ignaz Semmelweis]] publishes ''[[Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever]] (Die Ätiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers)'', a treatment of his theory on sanitary conditions during childbirth.
* [[Adolf Zsigmondy]] develops a [[dental notation]] system.

==Paleontology==
* August 15 – First description of ''[[Archaeopteryx]]'', based on a feather found in [[Bavaria]];<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Meyer|first1=Hermann von|authorlink=Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer|title=Vogel-Federn und Palpipes priscus von Solenhofen|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde|date=1861-08-15|page=561|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RAFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA561|trans-title=Bird feathers and ''Palpipes priscus'' [a crustacean] from Solenhofen|language=German|quote=Aus dem lithographischen Schiefer der Brüche von ''Solenhofen'' in ''Bayern'' ist mir in den beiden Gegenplatten eine auf der Ablösungs- oder Spaltungs-Fläche des Gesteins liegende Versteinerung mitgetheilt worden, die mit grosser Deutlichkeit eine Feder erkennen lässt, welche von den Vogel-Federn nicht zu unterscheiden ist. (From the lithographic slates of the faults of Solenhofen in Bavaria, there has been reported to me a fossil lying on the stone's surface of detachment or cleavage, in both opposing slabs, which can be recognized with great clarity [to be] a feather, which is indistinguishable from a bird's feather.)}}</ref> in September the first complete identified skeleton is found near [[Langenaltheim]] in Germany.<ref>[[Natural History Museum, London]] BMNH 37001. {{cite book|last=Chiappe|first=Luis M.|title=Glorified Dinosaurs|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2007|location=Sydney|pages=118–146|isbn=978-0-471-24723-4}}</ref>

==Technology==
[[File:Tartan Ribbon.jpg|right|thumb|The first colour photograph by [[James Clerk Maxwell]]]]
* January 1 – First steam-powered [[carousel]] recorded, in [[Bolton]], [[England]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Fairground Rides – A Chronological Development|url=http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html|work=National Fairground Archive|publisher=[[University of Sheffield]]|year=2007|accessdate=2011-08-24|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811021142/https://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/rides/history.html|archivedate=2011-08-11}}</ref>
* July 23 – The term '[[drive shaft]]' is used in the description of the mechanism in a patent reissue for the Watkins and Bryson horse-drawn [[Sickle bar mower|mowing machine]].<ref>John DeLancy Watkins and Robert Bryson, Mowing Machines, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yr1AAAAAcAAJ&pg=PT440 U.S. Patent Reissue 1,904].</ref>
* [[William Froude]] publishes the first results of his research into [[Hull (watercraft)|ship hull]] design.<ref>"On the rolling of ships." ''Transactions of the [[Institution of Naval Architects]]'' '''2''' (1861): pp. 180–227; '''3''' (1862): pp. 45–62.</ref>
* [[Richard Jordan Gatling|Dr. Richard J. Gatling]] invents the [[Gatling gun]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Industries of the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/greatindustrieso00greeuoft|last=Greeley|first=Horace|authorlink=Horace Greeley|author2=Case, Leon|year=1872|location=Hartford|publisher=J.B. Burr & Hyde|page=[https://archive.org/details/greatindustrieso00greeuoft/page/944 944]}}</ref>
* [[Robert Parker Parrott|Capt. Robert P. Parrott]] is granted a United States patent for the [[Parrott rifle]], a [[field artillery]] weapon.<ref>Pritchard Jr, Russ A.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=YOmZolJJktAC&dq=%22parrott+rifle%22+%22robert+parker+parrott%22&pg=PA82 Civil War Weapons and Equipment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114195218/http://books.google.com/books?id=YOmZolJJktAC&pg=PA82&dq=%22parrott+rifle%22+%22robert+parker+parrott%22&lr=&sig=3W9wyByS8IFq95FEMRm87LoKapc |date=2012-11-14 }}, p.82.  Globe Pequit Press, 2003.  {{ISBN|1-58574-493-X}}.</ref>
* [[James Clerk Maxwell]] demonstrates the principle of permanent three-colour photography.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Hutchinson Factfinder|publisher=Helicon|year=1999|isbn=978-1-85986-000-7}}</ref>
* German scientist [[Philipp Reis]] succeeds in creating a device that captures sound and converts it to electrical impulses which are transmitted via electrical wires to another device that transforms these pulses into recognizable sounds similar to the original acoustical source. Reis coins the term ''telephone'' to describe his device, the [[Reis telephone]].

==Publications==
* [[Michael Faraday]]'s [[Royal Institution Christmas Lectures]] published as ''[[The Chemical History of a Candle]]''.

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Louis Agassiz]]<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|Wollaston Medal for geology]]: [[Heinrich Bronn]]

==Births==
* February 12 – [[Lou Andreas-Salomé]], born Luíza von Salomé (died [[1937 in science|1937]]), [[Russia]]n-born [[psychoanalyst]].
* February 15
** [[Charles Édouard Guillaume]] (died [[1938 in science|1938]]), [[French people|French]] [[physicist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].
** [[Alfred North Whitehead]] (died [[1947 in science|1947]]), [[English people|English]] [[mathematician]].
* April 24 – [[Hedda Andersson]] (died [[1950 in science|1950]]), [[Swedes|Swedish]] [[physician]].
* May 5 – [[Peter Cooper Hewitt]] (died [[1921 in science|1921]]), [[Americans|American]] electrical engineer and inventor.
* May 20 – [[Henry Gantt]] (died [[1919 in science|1919]]), American [[project engineer]].
* June 9 – [[Pierre Duhem]] (died [[1916 in science|1916]]), French [[Philosophy of science|philosopher of science]].
* June 20 – [[Frederick Hopkins]] (died [[1947 in science|1947]]), [[British people|British]] [[biochemist]], recipient of the [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine]].
* July 7 – [[Nettie Stevens]] (died [[1912 in science|1912]]), American [[geneticist]].
* July 18 – [[Kadambini Ganguly]] (died [[1923 in science|1923]]), [[Indian people|Indian]] [[physician]].
* July 26 – [[Ægidius Elling]] (died [[1949 in science|1949]]), [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] [[gas turbine]] pioneer.
* August 4 – [[Henry Head]] (died [[1940 in science|1940]]), English neurologist.
* August 9 – [[Dorothea Klumpke]] (died [[1942 in science|1942]]), American [[astronomer]].
* August 10 – [[Almroth Wright]] (died 1947), English [[bacteriologist]] and [[immunologist]].
* October 11 – [[John Bell Hatcher]] (died [[1904 in science|1904]]), American [[paleontologist]].
* December 17 – [[Arthur E. Kennelly]] (died [[1939 in science|1939]]), [[Irish American]] [[electrical engineer]].

==Deaths==
* January 3 – [[Arnold Adolph Berthold]] (born [[1803 in science|1803]]), [[Germans|German]] [[physiologist]].
* May 16 – [[John Stevens Henslow]] (born [[1796 in science|1796]]), English [[botanist]].
* June 13 – [[Henry Gray]] (born [[1827 in science|1827]]), English [[anatomist]] (smallpox).
* June 18 – [[Eaton Hodgkinson]] (born [[1789 in science|1789]]), English [[structural engineer]].
* November 10 – [[Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]] (born [[1805 in science|1805]]), French [[zoologist]].
* November 13 – [[John Forbes (physician)|Sir John Forbes]] (born [[1787 in science|1787]]), Scottish-born royal [[physician]].
* December 10 – [[Thomas Southwood Smith]] (born [[1788 in science|1788]]), English physician and sanitary reformer.
* [[Ferdinand Deppe]] (born [[1794 in science|1794]]), German [[naturalist]], [[explorer]] and painter.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1861 In Science}}
[[Category:1861 in science| ]]
[[Category:1860s in science]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]