The year 1678 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

Edmund Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, H ...

publishes a catalogue of 341 southern stars—the first systematic southern sky survey.

Physics

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...

publishes his '' Traité de la Lumière/Treatise on Light'', which states his

principle A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning. They provide a guide for behavior or evaluation. A principle can make values explicit, so t ...

of wavefront sources. *

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...

publishes in full

Hooke's law In physics, Hooke's law is an empirical law which states that the force () needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance () scales linearly with respect to that distance—that is, where is a constant factor characteristic of ...

, the fundamental law of elasticity: stress (force) exerted is proportional to the strain (elongation) produced (''ut tensio, sic vis'' ("as the extension, so the force" or "the extension is proportional to the force")).

Zoology

* Publication of ''English Spiders'' by

Martin Lister Martin Lister (12 April 1639 – 2 February 1712) was an English natural history, naturalist and physician. His daughters Anne Lister (illustrator), Anne and Susanna Lister, Susanna were two of his illustrators and engravers. J. D. Woodley, 'L ...

, the first book devoted to

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

Births

* April 14 –

Abraham Darby I Abraham Darby, in his later life called Abraham Darby the Elder, now sometimes known for convenience as Abraham Darby I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and best known of Abraham Darby (disambiguation), several men of that name), was ...

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a larg ...

(died

1717 Events January–March * January 1 – Count Carl Gyllenborg, the Swedish ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain, is arrested in London over a plot to assist the Pretender to the British throne, James Francis Edward Stuart. * J ...

) * July 16 –

Jakob Hermann Jakob Hermann (16 July 1678 – 11 July 1733) was a mathematician who worked on problems in classical mechanics. He is the author of ''Phoronomia'', an early treatise on mechanics in Latin, which has been translated by Ian Bruce in 2015-16. In 172 ...

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, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

(died

1733 Events January–March * January 13 – Borommarachathirat V becomes King of Siam (now Thailand) upon the death of King Sanphet IX. * January 27 – George Frideric Handel's classic opera, ''Orlando'' is performed for the ...

) * October 27 –

Pierre Raymond de Montmort Pierre Remond de Montmort was a French mathematician. He was born in Paris on 27 October 1678 and died there on 7 October 1719. His name was originally just Pierre Remond. His father pressured him to study law, but he rebelled and travelled to E ...

, mathematician (died

1719 Events January–March * January 8 – Carolean Death March begins: A catastrophic retreat by a largely-Finnish Swedish- Carolean army under the command of Carl Gustaf Armfeldt across the Tydalen mountains in a blizzard kills aroun ...

) * November 26 –

Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan (26 November 1678 – 20 February 1771) was a French natural philosopher (physicist), born in the town of Béziers on 26 November 1678. De Mairan lost his father, François d'Ortous, at age four and his mother tw ...

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

(died

1771 Events January– March * January 5 – The Great Kalmyk (Torghut) Migration is led by Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing dynasty rule. * January ...

) * December 2 –

Nicolaas Kruik Nicolaas Samuelszoon Kruik (; 2 December 1678 West-Vlieland – 5 February 1754 Spaarndam), also known as Nicolaes Krukius, was a Dutch surveyor, cartographer, astronomer and weather observer. Cruquius took temperature measurements in Fahrenheit ...

(Cruquius),

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

(died 1754) * ''unknown'' –

Pierre Fauchard Pierre Fauchard (; 2 January 1679 – 21 March 1761) was a French physician, credited as being the "father of modern dentistry". He is widely known for writing the first complete scientific description of dentistry, ''Le Chirurgien Dentiste'' ('' ...

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 ...

and "father of modern dentistry" (died

1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 1 ...

)

Deaths

* November 28 –

Willem Piso Willem Piso (in Dutch Willem Pies, in Latin Gulielmus Piso, also called Guilherme Piso in Portuguese) (1611 in Leiden – 28 November 1678 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician and naturalist who participated as an expedition doctor in D ...

, physician and

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 ...

(born

1611 Events January–March * January 26 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully is forced by Queen regent Marie's Regency Council to resign as chief minister of France. He is replaced by Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Vill ...

)

References

{{Reflist 17th century in science 1670s in science