1744 in science
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The year 1744 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- Great Comet of 1744, first sighted in 1743, remains visible until April (perihelion about March 1).[1]
Cartography
- César-François Cassini de Thury publishes a new triangulated map of France.
Earth sciences
- Susanna Drury's illustrations of the Giant's Causeway in northern Ireland are engraved by François Vivares in London (1743–4), bringing the rock formation to wide European notice.[2]
Mathematics
- Leonhard Euler discovers the catenoid and proves it to be a minimal surface.[3]
Medicine
- By July – Northampton General Hospital established as Northampton Infirmary in England.[4]
Awards
Births
- March 7 - Jean-Baptiste Dumangin, French physician (died 1826)[6]
- June 22 – Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben, German naturalist (died 1777)
- August 1 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French naturalist (died 1829)
- August 16 – Pierre Méchain, French astronomer (died 1804)
- October 17 – Andrew Duncan, Scottish physician (died 1828)
Deaths
- February 14 – John Hadley, English mathematician (born 1682)
- April 25 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and thermometrician (born 1701)
- July 1 – Catherine Jérémie, French-Canadian botanist (born 1644)
- October 4/5 – John Serson, English inventor (in wreck of HMS Victory (1737))