The year 1729 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

* January 9 & 16 –

James Bradley James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the ...

, in a letter written to

Edmond 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 ...

and read before the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, describes his discovery of

aberration of starlight In astronomy, aberration (also referred to as astronomical aberration, stellar aberration, or velocity aberration) is a phenomenon which produces an apparent motion of celestial objects about their true positions, dependent on the velocity of t ...

. * August 1 – Fr.

Nicolas Sarrabat Fr. Nicolas Sarrabat or Sarabat (February 7, 1698 – April 27, 1739), also known as Nicolas Sarrabat de la Baisse, was an eighteenth-century French mathematician and scientist. He was born in Lyon, the son of the painter Daniel Sarrabat (1666–17 ...

, a professor of mathematics at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, discovers the

Comet of 1729 The Comet of 1729, also known as C/1729 P1 or Comet Sarabat, was an assumed parabolic comet with an absolute magnitude of −3, the brightest ever observed for a comet;'' Comet Caesar'' (C/-43 K1) has, however, been calculated to have possibly had ...

, possibly the largest comet, with the highest

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's li ...

, on record. * English

optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

Chester Moore Hall Chester Moore Hall (9 December 1703, Leigh, Essex, England – 17 March 1771, Sutton) was a British lawyer and inventor who produced the first achromatic lenses in 1729 or 1733 (accounts differ). He used the achromatic lens to build the first ach ...

(

1703 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Thursday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 9 – The Jamaican town of Port Royal, a center of trade ...

–

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 9 ...

) develops an

achromatic lens An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. The most comm ...

(or achromat) commonly used as the objective of small

refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...

Biology

* June 8 – The Botanic Gardens of Pamplemousses on

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

are started by Pierre Barmond. *

Mark Catesby Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'', the fi ...

begins part publication in London of ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants ... together with their descriptions in English and French'', the first published account of the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

of North America, and the first work of natural history to use

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

-size coloured plates.

Mathematics

Andrew Motte Benjamin Motte (; November 1693 – 12 March 1738J. J. Caudle ''Dictionary of National Biography'') was a London publisher and son of Benjamin Motte, Sr. Motte published many works and is well known for his publishing of Jonathan Swift's '' Gulli ...

publishes ''The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'' in London, the first English translation of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

's ''

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') often referred to as simply the (), is a book by Isaac Newton that expounds Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. The ''Principia'' is written in Latin and ...

'' (originally published

1687 Events January–March * January 3 – With the end of latest of the Savoyard–Waldensian wars in the Duchy of Savoy between the Savoyard government and Protestant Italians known as the Waldensians, Victor Amadeus III of Sardi ...

; Motte translated the 1726 edition).

Medicine

* August 6 –

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

established as the "Hospital for the Sick Poor" or "Physicians' Hospital" in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(Scotland).

Physics

* Stephen Gray discovers

electrical conduction Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows ...

. *

Pierre Bouguer Pierre Bouguer () (16 February 1698, Croisic – 15 August 1758, Paris) was a French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer. He is also known as "the father of naval architecture". Career Bouguer's father, Jean Bouguer, one ...

publishes ''Essai d'optique sur la gradation de la lumière'', defining the quantity of light lost by passing through a given extent of the

earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

, thus making some of the earliest measurements in

photometry Photometry can refer to: * Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision * Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electrom ...

and becoming the first known discoverer of what is now known as the

Beer–Lambert law The Beer–Lambert law, also known as Beer's law, the Lambert–Beer law, or the Beer–Lambert–Bouguer law relates the attenuation of light to the properties of the material through which the light is travelling. The law is commonly applied t ...

Technology

Stephen Switzer Stephen Switzer (1682–1745) was an English gardener, garden designer and writer on garden subjects, often credited as an early exponent of the English landscape garden. He is most notable for his views of the transition between the large garden ...

publishes ''An Introduction to a General System of Hydrostaticks and Hydraulicks'' in London, a 2-volume general treatise on

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

. * Walter Churchman of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(England) patents the first mechanical

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

grinder.

Births

* January 12 –

Lazzaro Spallanzani Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily function ...

, Italian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

(died

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

) * January 31 –

Pehr Löfling Pehr Löfling (31 January 1729 – 22 February 1756) was a Swedish botanist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography Löfling was born in Tolvfors Bruk, Gävle, Sweden. He studied at the University of Uppsala where he attended courses taught ...

, Swedish Linnaean

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 ...

(died

1756 Events January–March * January 16 – The Treaty of Westminster is signed between Great Britain and Prussia, guaranteeing the neutrality of the Kingdom of Hanover, controlled by King George II of Great Britain. *February 7 & ...

) * September 15 –

Mikiel'Ang Grima Mikiel'Ang Grima (also known as Michel'Angelo Grima) (15 September 1729 – 25 August 1798) was a Maltese People, Maltese surgery, surgeon during the times of the Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta. He was particularly adept at traumatic sur ...

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

(died

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of Wa ...

) * November 11 –

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolution ...

, French explorer (died

1811 Events January–March * January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana. * January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón Brid ...

)

Deaths

* January 31 –

Jacob Roggeveen Jacob Roggeveen (1 February 1659 – 31 January 1729) was a Dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen also found Bora ...

, Dutch explorer (born

1659 Events January–March * January 14 – In the Battle of the Lines of Elvas, fought near the small city of Elvas in Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War, the Spanish Army under the command of Luis Méndez de Haro suff ...

) * March 2 –

Francesco Bianchini Francesco Bianchini (13 December 16622 March 1729) was an Italian philosopher and scientist. He worked for the curia of three popes, including being ''camiere d'honore'' of Clement XI, and secretary of the commission for the reform of the cal ...

, Italian philosopher and scientist (born

1662 Events January–March * January 4 – Dziaddin Mukarram Shah becomes the new Sultan of Kedah, an independent kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, upon the death of his father, Sultan Muhyiddin Mansur. * January 10 – At the ...

) * August 5 –

Thomas Newcomen Thomas Newcomen (; February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He ...

, English inventor (born

1664 It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral exactly once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+50(L)+10(X)+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1664). Events January–March * January 5 – In the Battle of Surat in India, the Maratha leader, Chhat ...

) * December 1 –

Giacomo F. Maraldi Giacomo Filippo Maraldi (21 August 1665 – 1 December 1729) was a French-Italian astronomer and mathematician. His name is also given as Jacques Philippe Maraldi. Born in Perinaldo (modern Liguria) he was the nephew of Giovanni Cassini, and w ...

, French-Italian astronomer (born

1665 Events January–March * January 5 – The ''Journal des sçavans'' begins publication of the first scientific journal in France. * February 15 – Molière's comedy '' Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre'', based on the Spanis ...

)

References

{{Reflist 18th century in science 1720s in science