1662 in science explained

The year 1662 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Botany

• February 16 – John Evelyn presents the basic text of his Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber to the College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning, probably the earliest treatise on forestry (it is published in book form in 1664).

Chemistry

• First attempt to manufacture graphite drawing sticks from powdered graphite (mixed with sulphur and antimony), in Nuremberg, Germany.

Physics

• Robert Boyle publishes Boyle's law, in the second edition of his New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching The Spring of the Air, and its Effects (Oxford).^[1]

Statistics

• John Graunt, in one of the earliest uses of statistics, publishes information about births and deaths in London.

Events

• July 15 – The Royal Society of London receives its royal charter. Robert Hooke becomes its Curator of Experiments this year.^[2]

Births

• December 13 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer (died 1729)

Deaths

• April 22 – John Tradescant the Younger, English botanist (born 1608)^[3]
• August 19 – Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist (born 1623)^[4]

Notes and References

1. West. J. B.. October 1999. The original presentation of Boyle's law. Journal of Applied Physiology. 87. 4. 1543–1545. 10.1152/jappl.1999.87.4.1543. 8750-7587. 10517789.
2. Web site: Robert Hooke. www.ucmp.berkeley.edu. 2018-01-28.
3. Web site: Ashmolean Museum: British Archaeology Collections - Rationalisation and Enhancement Project - The Collectors Tradescant. britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk. 2018-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20181006231733/http://britisharchaeology.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/collections/tradescant.html. 2018-10-06. dead.
4. News: Blaise Pascal Biography, Facts, & Inventions. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2018-01-28. en.