1692 in science

Last updated February 24, 2026

Events

In the American colonies, the Salem witch trials develop, following 250 years of witch-hunts in Europe.^[1]

Mathematics

The tractrix, sometimes called a tractory or equitangential curve, is first studied by Christiaan Huygens, who gives it its name.
John Arbuthnot publishes Of the Laws of Chance (translated from Huygens' De ratiociniis in ludo aleae), the first work on probability theory in English.

Medicine

Thomas Sydenham's Processus integri ("The Process of Healing") is published posthumously.

Births

April 22 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (died 1770)

Deaths

May – John Banister, English missionary and botanist, accidentally shot (born 1654)^[2]

References

↑ Gale, Robert L. (February 2000). Corey, Martha (1625–22 September 1692), Salem "witch". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press.
↑ "Joseph and Nesta Ewan. <italic>John Banister and His Natural History of Virginia, 1678–1692</italic>. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 1970. Pp. xxx, 485. $15.00" . The American Historical Review. December 1971. doi:10.1086/ahr/76.5.1588. ISSN 1937-5239.

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[1] Gale, Robert L. (February 2000). Corey, Martha (1625–22 September 1692), Salem "witch". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press.

[2] "Joseph and Nesta Ewan. <italic>John Banister and His Natural History of Virginia, 1678–1692</italic>. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 1970. Pp. xxx, 485. $15.00" . The American Historical Review. December 1971. doi:10.1086/ahr/76.5.1588. ISSN 1937-5239.

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