The year 1744 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
edit- Great Comet of 1744, first sighted in 1743, remains visible until April (perihelion about March 1).[1]
Cartography
edit- César-François Cassini de Thury publishes a new triangulated map of France.
Earth sciences
edit- 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
edit- Leonhard Euler discovers the catenoid and proves it to be a minimal surface.[3]
Medicine
edit- By July – Northampton General Hospital established as Northampton Infirmary in England.[4]
Awards
editBirths
edit- 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
edit- 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))
References
edit- ^ "C/1743 X1". JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 1744-03-01. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
- ^ Anglesea, Martyn (2004). "Drury , Susanna (b. 1698?, d. in or after 1770)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59673. Retrieved 2012-11-16. (subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required)
- ^ Euler, L. (1744). "Methodus inveniendi lineas curvas maximi minimive proprietate gaudentes". In Opera omnia I p. 24.
- ^ "Northampton General Hospital". Northamptonshire Heritage. Archived from the original on 2019-11-16. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
- ^ "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ Corlieu, Auguste (1901). "Le docteur Dumangin de Château-Thierry et le cœur de Louis XVII". Annales de la Société historique et archéologique de Château-Thierry (in French): 103–107.