1795 in science

The year 1795 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

*Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827) publishes his "Exposition du Systeme du Monde", his work on astronomy (mainly celestial mechanics) following his predecessors as Newton and Lagrange. He developed an analytical theory of tides, deduced the mass of the moon, improved the calculation of cosmic orbits, and predicted that Saturn's rings would be found to rotate. Most notably, he propounded the modern Nebular Hypothesis, independently outlined by Kant.

Paleontology

* Georges Cuvier identifies the fossilised bones of a huge animal found in the Netherlands in 1770 as belonging to an extinct reptile

Metrology

* On 7 April, the gram was decreed in France to be equal to “the absolute weight of a volume of water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of the meter, at the temperature of melting ice.” [cite web
url=http://smdsi.quartier-rural.org/histoire/18germ_3.htm
title=Decree on weights and measures
year = 1795
quotation="Gramme", le poids absolu d'un volume d'eau pure égal au cube de la centième partie du mètre , et à la température de la glace fondante.]

Awards

*Copley Medal: Jesse Ramsden

Births

* December 8 - Peter Andreas Hansen, astronomer (died 1874)

Deaths

* March 21 - Giovanni Arduino, geologist (born 1714)
* June 24 - William Smellie, Scottish naturalist (born 1740)