The year 1741 in

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

involved some significant events.

Astronomy

* August 29 –

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

(not known at the time) reached perihelion (closest approach to the Sun). * December 11 – a "Fire-ball" and explosion heard over southern England, about 11 a.m. "a countryman ... saw a flash of Lightning Before he heard the Noise ... The sound was double ... a Ball of Fire ... took its Course to the East ... over Westminster ... it divided into Two Heads ndleft a Train of Smoke ... which continued ascending for 20 minutes". The description is reminiscent of the Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013. *

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedes, Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories ...

establishes the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory. * Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin publishes his first paper on the moons of Jupiter, in the ''Acta'' of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala. * Edmund Weaver publishes ''The British Telescope: Being an Ephemeris of the Coelestial Motions''.

Botany

* Johann Jacob Dillenius publishes ''Historia Muscorum'', a significant work on cryptogams.

Exploration

* May – Vitus Bering sets out from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to map the coasts of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. * July 15 – Alexei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends some men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit

Medicine

Nicolas Andry Nicolas Andry de Bois-Regard (1658 – 13 May 1742) was a French physician and writer. He played a significant role in the early history of both parasitology and orthopedics, the name for which is taken from Andry's book ''Orthopédie''. Early li ...

publishes ''Orthopédie'', giving a name to the discipline of

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

Metrology

* December 25 –

proposes a centigrade

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

scale.

Zoology

* July 20 – Georg Wilhelm Steller,

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

on Bering’s Second Kamchatka Expedition, becomes the first European

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

to set foot on

n soil ( Kayak Island), identifying many species for the first time, including Steller's jay. On the return voyage he discovers Steller's sea cow (extinct by 1768).

Awards

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...

: John Theophilus Desaguliers

Births

* January 20 – Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Swedish

(died 1783) * March 17 – William Withering, English

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and

who discovered

digitalis ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and Biennial plant, biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are ...

(died 1799) * September 22 –

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussia, Prussian zoologist, botanist, Ethnography, ethnographer, Exploration, explorer, Geography, geographer, Geology, geologist, Natura ...

, German

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

(died 1811) * ''probable date'' – Bryan Higgins, Irish-born

(died

1818 Events January–March * January 1 ** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire. ** English author Mary Shelley publishes the novel ''Frankenstein ...

)

Deaths

* May 16 – Jacob Christoph Le Blon, German inventor of four-colour printing (born 1667) * December 19 – Vitus Bering, Danish-born Russian

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

(born 1681) (on Bering Island)

References

{{reflist 18th century in science 1740s in science