1654 in science explained

The year 1654 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

• Sicilian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna publishes De systemate orbis cometici, deque admirandis coeli characteribus including a catalog of comets and nebulae.

Mathematics

• At the prompting of the Chevalier de Méré, Blaise Pascal corresponds with Pierre de Fermat on gambling problems, from which is born the theory of probability.^[1]

Physics

• May 8 – Otto von Guericke demonstrates the effectiveness of his vacuum pump and the power of atmospheric pressure using the Magdeburg hemispheres before Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, in Regensburg.^[2]

Births

• December 27 – Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (died 1705).
• John Banister, English missionary and botanist (died 1692).
• prob. date – Eleanor Glanville, English entomologist (died 1709).

Deaths

• August 31 – Ole Worm, Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary (born 1588)
• October 18 – Nicholas Culpeper, English herbalist (born 1616)
• Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni, Italian military engineer and astronomer (born 1586)

Notes and References

1. Book: Crilly, Tony. 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London. Quercus. 2007. 978-1-84724-008-8. 132.
2. Encyclopedia: Von Guericke, Otto. Encyclopædia Britannica. 11th. 9. 670. The Encyclopædia Britannica Co. 1910.