1790 in science explained

The year 1790 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

• Armagh Observatory, founded in Ireland by Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby, Archbishop of Armagh, begins to function.

Biology

• English ornithologist John Latham publishes his Index Ornithologicus, including a scientific description of the black swan.
• English botanical illustrator James Sowerby begins publication of his English Botany, with text by James E. Smith.
• Goethe publishes Metamorphosis of Plants.

Chemistry

• July 31 – Samuel Hopkins of Vermont is granted a patent for a potash production technique, the first issued under the 1st United States Congress's Patent Act of 1790.^[1]
• Publication in Montpellier of Jean-Antoine Chaptal's Élémens de chimie, in which he coins the word nitrogen (nitrogène).
• Adair Crawford, working with William Cruickshank, proposes the existence of the alkaline earth metal located near Strontian in Scotland which will later be isolated at strontium.^{[2] [3]}

Physiology and medicine

• First recorded case of artificial insemination when British surgeon John Hunter helps impregnate a linen draper's wife.^{[4] [5]}

Technology

• January 30 – Henry Greathead's Original rescue life-boat is tested on the River Tyne in England.^[6]

Awards

• Copley Medal: Not awarded^[7]

Births

• February 3 – Gideon Mantell, English paleontologist (died 1852)
• March 12 – John Frederic Daniell, English chemist and physicist (died 1845)
• May 23 – Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer (died 1842)
• May 30 – John Herapath, English physicist (died 1868)
• July 1 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer (died 1866)
• October 25 – Robert Stirling, Scottish inventor (died 1878)
• November 17 – August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician (died 1868)
• December 9 – Friederike Lienig, Latvian entomologist (d. 1855)
• December 19 – William Edward Parry, English Arctic explorer (died 1855)

Deaths

• February 5 – William Cullen, Scottish physician and chemist (born 1710)^[8]
• March 22 – Anthony Addington, English physician (born 1713)
• April 17 – Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and polymath, known for his experiments with electricity (born 1706)
• July 17 – Johann II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (born 1710)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Patent Number: US0X0000001 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160415181250/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=1790%24.PD.&OS=ISD%2F%24%2F%24%2F1790&RS=ISD%2F1790%24%24 . dead . 2016-04-15 .
2. Weeks. Mary Elvira. Mary Elvira Weeks. The discovery of the elements: X. The alkaline earth metals and magnesium and cadmium. Journal of Chemical Education. 1932. 9. 1046–1057. 10.1021/ed009p1046. 6. 1932JChEd...9.1046W.
3. 10.1080/00033794200201411. The early history of strontium. 1942. Partington. J. R.. Annals of Science. 5. 157. 2.
4. Web site: Artificial Insemination of Married Women (Hansard, 26 February 1958). api.parliament.uk. 2020-03-02.
5. Ombelet. W.. Van Robays. J.. 2015. Artificial insemination history: hurdles and milestones. Facts, Views & Vision in ObGyn. 7. 2. 137–143. 2032-0418. 4498171. 26175891.
6. Book: Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 0-14-102715-0. 2006.
7. Web site: Copley Medal British scientific award . Encyclopedia Britannica . 21 July 2020 . en.
8. Web site: William Cullen Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh . www.rcpe.ac.uk . 3 December 2020.