1606 in science explained

The year 1606 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Cryptography

• The cryptographic text Steganographia, written by Johannes Trithemius c.1499/1500, is published in Frankfurt.

Exploration

• February 26
  • Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon makes the first confirmed sighting of Australia by a European.
  • Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovers the Pitcairn Islands.
• March – The Dutch ship Duyfken, under Captain Willem Janszoon, explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula.^[1]
• May – Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovers the islands of Vanuatu; believing them to be Australia, he names them .^[2]
• October – Luís Vaz de Torres is the first European to sail through the Torres Strait.

Mathematics

• Giovanni Antonio Magini devises trigonometric tables of high accuracy.

Physics

• Approx. date – Galileo invents a thermometer based on the expansion of gas.^[3]

Technology

• The first recorded instance of a bayonet published in the Chinese military treatise .

Births

• January 4 (bapt.) – Edmund Castell, English orientalist (died 1685)

Deaths

• September 28 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and scientist (born 1547)
• November 13 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian physician and historian (born 1530)
• Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, Dutch nautical chart maker (born 1533/4)

Notes and References

1. Book: McHugh, Evan. 1606: An Epic Adventure. Sydney. University of New South Wales Press. 2006. 20. 978-0-86840-866-8.
2. Book: Richardson, William A. R.. Was Australia Charted Before 1606: the Jave la Grande Inscriptions. Australia. Everbest. 2008. 20.
3. Book: Drake, Stillman. Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography. Mineola, NY. Dover. 2003. 121.