The year 1655 in

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

and

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

involved some significant events.

Astronomy

* March 25 –

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

's largest moon, is discovered by

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...

Biology

Botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

established at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. *

Thomas Muffet Thomas Muffet (also Moufet, Mouffet, or Moffet) (1553 – 5 June 1604) was an English naturalist and physician. He is best known his study of insects and arthropods in regard to medicine (particularly spiders), his support of the Paracelsian sy ...

's ''Healths Improvement, or, Rules comprising and discovering the nature, method, and manner of preparing all sorts of food used in this nation'' is published posthumously in England, containing, ''inter alia'', descriptions of a wide range of wildfowl to be found in the country.

Mathematics

John Wallis John Wallis (; la, Wallisius; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal ...

introduces the symbol ∞ to represent

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

Births

* January 6 (27 December 1654 OS) – Jacob Bernoulli,

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

(died

1705 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Sunday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 8 – George Frideric Handel's first opera, ''Almira'' is p ...

) * September 10 –

Caspar Bartholin the Younger Caspar Bartholin the Younger (; Latinized: ''Caspar Bartholin Secundus''; 10 September 1655 – 11 June 1738), was a Danish anatomist who first described the " Bartholin's gland" in the 17th century. The discovery of the Bartholin's gland is s ...

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

anatomist (died

1738 Events January–March * January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown, when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship ''Leusden'' capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River, during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escape ...

)

Deaths

* February 1 –

Giovanni Baptista Ferrari Giovanni Baptista (also Battista) Ferrari (1584 in Siena – 1 February 1655 in Siena), was an Italian Jesuit and professor in Rome, a botanist, and an author of illustrated botanical books and a Syriac-Latin dictionary. Linguistically highly ...

, Italian

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and linguist (born

1584 __NOTOC__ Events January–June * January–March – Archangelsk is founded as ''New Kholmogory'' in northern Russia, by Ivan the Terrible. * January 11 – Sir Walter Mildmay is given a royal licence to found Emman ...

) * October 16 – Rabbi

Joseph Solomon Delmedigo Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (or Del Medigo), also known as Yashar Mi-Qandia ( he, יש"ר מקנדיא) (16 June 1591 – 16 October 1655), was a rabbi, author, physician, mathematician, and music theorist. Born in Candia, Crete, a descendant of ...

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

-born peripatetic

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and scientist (born

1591 Events January–June * March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, forces sent by the Saadi dynasty ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, and led by Judar Pasha, defeat the fractured Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at l ...

) * October 24 –

Pierre Gassendi Pierre Gassendi (; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he also spent much tim ...

, French

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

who played a crucial role in the revival of

atomism Atomism (from Greek , ''atomon'', i.e. "uncuttable, indivisible") is a natural philosophy proposing that the physical universe is composed of fundamental indivisible components known as atoms. References to the concept of atomism and its atoms ...

(born

1592 Events January–June * January 30 – Pope Clement VIII (born Ippolito Aldobrandini) succeeds Pope Innocent IX, who died one month earlier, as the 231st pope. He immediately recalls the Sixtine Vulgate. * February 7 – G ...

) *

Francesco Pona Francesco Pona (1595–1655) was an Italian medical doctor, philosopher, Marinist poet and writer from Verona, whose works ranged from scientific treatises and history to poetry and plays. Biography A Veronese medical doctor and member of man ...

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...

physician and poet (born

1595 Events January–June * January – Mehmed III succeeds Murad III, as sultan of the Ottoman Empire. * January 17 – During the French Wars of Religion, Henry IV of France declares war on Spain. * April 8 (March 29 O.S.) & ...

)

References

{{reflist 17th century in science 1650s in science