1801 in science

The year 1801 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Events

* January 1 - Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first (and largest) asteroid Ceres, which is briefly hailed as the 8th planet. [cite book
author=Foderà Serio, G.; Manara, A.; Sicoli, P.
editor=W. F. Bottke Jr., A. Cellino, P. Paolicchi, and R. P. Binzel
year=2002 | chapter=Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres
title=Asteroids III | publisher=University of Arizona Press
pages=pp. 17-24 | location=Tucson, Arizona
url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/AsteroidsIII/pdf/3027.pdf
format=PDF ]
* Dalton's law: John Dalton observes that the total pressure exerted by a gaseous mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual component in a gas mixture.

Technology

* Joseph-Marie Jacquard develops the Jacquard Loom, in which holes strategically punched in a pasteboard card directed the movement of needles, thread, and fabric.
* The xaenorphica, a bow-stringed instrument with a keyboard, is invented in by C. L. Röllig of Vienna (the strings were set in vibration by violin bows.).

Awards

* Copley Medal: Astley Paston Cooper

Births

* June 16 - Julius Plücker, mathematician and physicist (d. 1868)
* July 31 - George Biddell Airy, astronomer (d. 1892)

Deaths

* May 17 - William Heberden, English physician (born 1710)

References