1718 in science

This is a list of significant events that occurred in the year 1718 in science.

List of years in science (table)
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Astronomy

• Edmond Halley discovers the proper motion of stars.[1]

Chemistry

• Étienne François Geoffroy presents the first ever table of chemical affinity (based on displacement reactions) to the French Academy of Sciences.

Mathematics

• Abraham de Moivre publishes The Doctrine of Chances: a method of calculating the probabilities of events in play in English, which goes through several editions.[2][3]

Medicine

• The Charitable Infirmary, Dublin, is founded by six surgeons in Ireland, the first public voluntary hospital in the British Isles.[4][5]

Technology

• May 15 – James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun, in England.[6]

Births

• May 16 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (died 1799)
• May 23 – William Hunter, Scottish anatomist (died 1783)
• August 17 – Francis Willis, English physician specialising in mental disorders (died 1807)
• Salomée Halpir (née Rusiecki), Lithuanian physician (died after 1763)

Deaths

• March 11 – Guy-Crescent Fagon, French physician and botanist (born 1638)
• April – James Petiver, English naturalist and apothecary (born c. 1665)
• December 9 – Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encyclopedist (born 1650)

References

1. Ellyard, David (2005). Who Discovered What When. Sydney: Hew Holland. ISBN 978-1-877069-22-2.
2. The Doctrine of Chances
3. Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8.
4. Widdess, J. D. H. (1968). The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, Dublin, 1718–1968. Dublin.
5. O'Brien, Eoin, ed. (1987). The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, 1718-1987: a farewell tribute. Monkstown: Anniversary Press. ISBN 1870940016.
6. Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.