1776 in science

The year 1776 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Exploration

* James Cook begins his third voyage of exploration in the Pacific.

Geology

* James Keir suggests that some rocks, such as those at the Giant's Causeway, might have been formed by the crystallisation of molten lava.

Awards

* Copley Medal: James Cook

Births

* February 4 - Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, German naturalist (died 1837)
* February 14 - Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck, German botanist (died 1858)
* April 1 - Sophie Germain, mathematician (died 1831)
* August 2 - Friedrich Strohmeyer, chemist, discoverer of cadmium (died 1835)
* August 6 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist (died 1856)

Deaths

* June 13 - William Battie, English psychiatrist (born 1703 or 1704)
* June 20 - Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (born 1704)
* November 17 - James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (born 1710)