1744 in science explained

The year 1744 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

• Great Comet of 1744, first sighted in 1743, remains visible until April (perihelion about March 1).^[1]

Cartography

• César-François Cassini de Thury publishes a new triangulated map of France.

Earth sciences

• Susanna Drury's illustrations of the Giant's Causeway in northern Ireland are engraved by François Vivares in London (1743–4), bringing the rock formation to wide European notice.^[2]

Mathematics

• Leonhard Euler discovers the catenoid and proves it to be a minimal surface.^[3]

Medicine

• By July – Northampton General Hospital established as Northampton Infirmary in England.^[4]

Awards

• Copley Medal: Henry Baker^[5]

Births

• March 7 - Jean-Baptiste Dumangin, French physician (died 1826)^[6]
• June 22 – Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben, German naturalist (died 1777)
• August 1 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French naturalist (died 1829)
• August 16 – Pierre Méchain, French astronomer (died 1804)
• October 17 – Andrew Duncan, Scottish physician (died 1828)

Deaths

• February 14 – John Hadley, English mathematician (born 1682)
• April 25 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and thermometrician (born 1701)
• July 1 – Catherine Jérémie, French-Canadian botanist (born 1644)
• October 4/5 – John Serson, English inventor (in wreck of)

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1744-03-01. JPL Small-Body Database Browser. C/1743 X1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 2011-10-13.
2. Web site: Martyn. Anglesea. Drury, Susanna (b. 1698?, d. in or after 1770). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. 2012-11-16. 10.1093/ref:odnb/59673.
3. Euler, L. (1744). "Methodus inveniendi lineas curvas maximi minimive proprietate gaudentes". In Opera omnia I p. 24.
4. Web site: Northampton General Hospital. Northamptonshire Heritage. 2019-11-16. 2019-11-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20191116141926/https://www.northamptonshireheritage.co.uk/learn/built-heritage-and-the-historic-environment/Pages/northampton-general-hospital.aspx. dead.
5. Web site: Copley Medal British scientific award . Encyclopedia Britannica . 21 July 2020 . en.
6. Corlieu . Auguste . Le docteur Dumangin de Château-Thierry et le cœur de Louis XVII . Annales de la Société historique et archéologique de Château-Thierry . 1901 . 103-107 . fr.