Editing 1871 in science

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{{Science year nav|1871}}

The year '''1871 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events, listed below.

==Astronomy and space sciences==
* October 5 – The ''Società degli Spettroscopisti Italiani'' (later''Società Astronomica Italiana'') is established in [[Rome]], the first scientific organisation in the world dedicated to [[astrophysics]].

==Exploration==
* June 8–October 2 – [[Hayden Geological Survey of 1871]] in the United States, including what will next year become the [[Yellowstone National Park]]. Between July 21–August 26, the first ever photographs of this region are taken by [[William Henry Jackson]].

==Physics==
* November 17 – [[George Biddell Airy]] presents his discovery that [[astronomical aberration]] is independent of the local medium.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Airy, G.B.|title=On the Supposed Alteration in the Amount of Astronomical Aberration of Light, Produced by the Passage of the Light through a Considerable Thickness of Refracting Medium|journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society]]|volume=20|issue=130–138|year=1871|pages=35–39|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56114d/f79|bibcode=1871RSPS...20...35A|doi=10.1098/rspl.1871.0011|accessdate=2015-01-03|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[James Clerk Maxwell]] makes public the [[thought experiment]] which will become known as [[Maxwell's demon]] in the [[philosophy of thermal and statistical physics]], in his book ''Theory of Heat''<ref>{{cite book|editor1=Leff, Harvey S. |editor2=Rex, Andrew F. |year=2002|title=Maxwell's Demon 2: Entropy, Classical and Quantum Information, Computing|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-7503-0759-8|page=370}}</ref> and establishes [[Maxwell relations]], statements of equality among the second derivatives of the [[thermodynamic potentials]] with respect to different thermodynamic variables.
* [[John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh|John Strutt]] publishes his first papers on the theory of [[acoustic resonance]] and on the phenomenon now called [[Rayleigh scattering]], explaining why the sky is blue.<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Kostas|last=Gavroglu|title=Strutt, John William, third Baron Rayleigh (1842–1919)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36359|accessdate=2011-11-03|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/36359}} </ref>

==Physiology and medicine==
* [[Porphyria]] is first explained biochemically by [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hoppe-Seyler, F.|title=Das Hämatin|journal=Tübinger Med-Chem Untersuch|year=1871|volume=4|pages=523–33}}</ref>
* [[Friedrich Trendelenburg]] describes the first successful elective human [[tracheotomy]] to be performed for the purpose of administering [[general anaesthesia]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=F|last=Trendelenburg|title=Beiträge zu den Operationen an den Luftwegen|trans-title=Contributions to airways surgery|language=German|journal=Archiv für Klinische Chirurgie|volume=12|pages=112–33|year=1871}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=R.|last=Hargrave|title=Endotraheal Anesthesia in Surgery of the Head and Neck|journal=[[Canadian Medical Association Journal]]|volume=30|issue=6|pages=633–7|year=1934|pmc=403396|pmid=20319535}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bain|first1=J. A.|last2=Spoerel|first2=W. E.|title=Observation on the use of cuffed tracheqstomy tubes (with particular reference to the james tube)|journal=Canadian Anaesthetists' Society Journal|volume=11|pages=598–608|year=1964|doi=10.1007/BF03004104|pmid=14232175|issue=6|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wawersik|first1=Juergen|title=History of Anesthesia in Germany|journal=Journal of Clinical Anesthesia|volume=3|issue=3|pages=235–44|year=1991|pmid=1878238|doi=10.1016/0952-8180(91)90167-L}}</ref>
* [[Friedrich Miescher]] publishes his 1869 isolation of what will subsequently be called [[nucleic acid]].<ref>Miescher, Friedrich (1871). [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA441 "Ueber die chemische Zusammensetzung der Eiterzellen"] (On the chemical composition of pus cells). ''Medicinisch-chemische Untersuchungen'' '''4''':441–460. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YJRTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA456 From p. 456:] "''Ich habe mich daher später mit meinen Versuchen an die ganzen Kerne gehalten, die Trennung der Körper, die ich einstweilen ohne weiteres Präjudiz als lösliches und unlösliches Nuclein bezeichnen will, einem günstigeren Material überlassend.''{{-"}}  ("Therefore, in my experiments I subsequently limited myself to the whole nucleus, leaving to a more favorable material the separation of the substances, that for the present, without further prejudice, I will designate as soluble and insoluble nuclear material ('Nuclein').")</ref>

==Technology==
* [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]] established in the [[United Kingdom]] as the Society of Telegraph Engineers.
* [[Souter Lighthouse]] in [[England]] is the first to use [[alternating current]] electricity.
* [[Ralph Hart Tweddell]] invents the portable hydraulic [[rivet]]er, manufactured by [[Fielding & Platt]] of [[Gloucester]] in England.
* The "Hoe web perfecting press", an improved [[rotary printing press]] invented by [[Richard March Hoe]], is first used to print the ''[[New-York Tribune]]''.<ref>{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Hoe, Robert}}</ref>
* [[Montague Redgrave]] is granted U.S. [[Patent]] #115,357 for his ''Improvements in [[Bagatelle]]'', the basis of the spring-loaded plunger used in [[pinball]] machines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=4542&depth=0&picno=6000|title=Internet Pinball Machine Database: M. Redgrave Bagatelle Company '1871 Redgrave Parlor Bagatelle' Images|publisher=Ipdb.org|access-date=2012-10-27}}</ref>

==Publications==
* ''Cosmos: A Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe'' by [[Alexander von Humboldt]], covering a large number of topics in scientific exploration and invention.
* ''[[The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex]]'' by [[Charles Darwin]], outlining his theory for man's origins and his theory of [[sexual selection]], and including his first published use of the term ''[[evolution]]'' (published by [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] in [[London]], February 24).
* ''[[A History of the Birds of Europe]]'' by [[Henry Eeles Dresser]] (publication begins).

==Awards==
* [[Copley Medal]]: [[Julius Robert von Mayer]]<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: [[Andrew Ramsay (geologist)|Andrew Ramsay]]

==Births==
* January 7 – [[Émile Borel]] (died [[1956 in science|1956]]), [[French people|French]] [[mathematician]].
* February 15 – [[Martin Knudsen]] (died [[1949 in science|1949]]), [[Danes|Danish]] [[physicist]].
* May 19
** [[Walter Russell]] (died [[1963 in science|1963]]), American [[polymath]].
** [[Inez Whipple Wilder]] (died [[1929 in science|1929]]), [[Americans|American]] [[herpetologist]] and [[anatomist]].
* August 15 – [[Arthur Tansley]] (died [[1955 in science|1955]]), [[English people|English]] [[botanist]] and [[ecologist]].
* August 19 – [[Orville Wright]] (died [[1948 in science|1948]]), American pioneer [[aviator]].
* August 30 – [[Ernest Rutherford]] (died [[1937 in science|1937]]), New Zealand-born British physicist and laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
* September 17 – [[Eivind Astrup]] (died [[1895 in science|1895]]), [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] [[Arctic]] explorer.
* October 19 – [[Walter Bradford Cannon]] (died [[1945 in science|1945]]), American [[physiologist]].
* October 26 – [[Albert Stewart Meek]] (died [[1943 in science|1943]]), English-born [[ornithologist]].

==Deaths==
* January 25 &ndash; [[Jeanne Villepreux-Power]] (born [[1794 in science|1794]]), French marine biologist. 
* March 18 – [[Augustus De Morgan]] (born [[1806 in science|1806]]), [[British people|British]] [[logician]].
* April 8 – [[Francisco Javier Muñiz]] (born [[1795 in science|1795]]), [[Argentine people|Argentine]] [[physician]] and [[paleontologist]].
* April 16 – [[Johann Ritter von Oppolzer]] (born [[1808 in science|1808]]), [[Austria]]n [[physician]].
* June 9 – [[Anna Atkins]] (b. [[1799]]), British botanist.<ref>{{cite book|first=Catharine M. C.|last=Haines|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|location=Santa Barbara|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57607-090-1|page=10}}</ref>
* May 11 – [[John Herschel]] (born [[1792 in science|1792]]), [[English people|English]] [[mathematician]] and [[astronomer]].
* October 18 – [[Charles Babbage]] (born [[1791 in science|1791]]), English [[mathematician]] and [[inventor]] of [[computing machines]].
* December 8 – [[James Murray (physician)|James Murray]] (born [[1788 in science|1788]]), [[Irish people|Irish]] physician.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1871 in science| ]]
[[Category:19th century in science]]
[[Category:1870s in science]]