- 1761 in science
The year 1761 in
science andtechnology involved some significant events, listed below.Astronomy
*
June 6 - The firsttransit of Venus sinceEdmond Halley suggested that its observation could determine the distance from theEarth to theSun .Joseph-Nicolas Delisle sets up a 62 station network for observing the transit. Those taking part includeNathaniel Bliss atRoyal Greenwich Observatory ,Joseph de Lalande inParis ,Tobias Mayer inGöttingen , César Cassini de Thury inVienna ,Nevil Maskelyne inSt Helena ,Jeremiah Dixon andCharles Mason inSouth Africa , John Winthrop in Newfoundland,Alexandre Pingré in Rodrigues andJean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche inSiberia . For various reasons the data obtained is unsatisfactory, and plans begin to observe the next transit in 1769.
*Mikhail Lomonosov also observes the transit of Venus and finds the first evidence that the planet has an atmosphere.Technology
* Opening of
Matthew Boulton 'sSoho Manufactory .Awards
*
Copley Medal : not awardedBirths
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January 17 -James Hall, 4th Baronet (d. 1832),geologist andphysicist .
*February 1 -Christian Hendrik Persoon (d. 1836),mycologist .
*June 7 - John Rennie (d. 1821),civil engineer .
*November 30 -Smithson Tennant (d. 1815),chemist .
*December 21 -Jean-Louis Pons (d. 1831),astronomer .
*December 25 -William Gregor (d. 1817),mineralogist .Deaths
*
April 7 -Thomas Bayes , mathematician (born c. 1702)
*May 14 -Thomas Simpson , British mathematician (born 1710)
*November 30 -John Dollond , English optician (born 1706)
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