1788 in science

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Last updated May 27, 2025

The year 1788 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

December 21 – Caroline Herschel discovers the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet.

Biology

Dr. Edward Jenner publishes his observation that it is the newly hatched common cuckoo which pushes its host's eggs and chicks out of the nest.^[1]^[2]
James E. Smith founds the Linnean Society of London.
Utamaro publishes Ehon Mushi Erami ("Picture Book of Crawling Creatures") in Japan with color illustrations.^[3]
Thomas Walter publishes Flora Caroliniana, the first flora of North America to follow Linnaean taxonomy.^[4]
Gilbert White publishes The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, in the County of Southampton (dated 1789), a pioneering observational study of English ecology.

Earth sciences

James Hutton's Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe is published for the first time, in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .^[5]

Mechanics

Lagrange's Mécanique analytique is published in Paris, introducing Lagrangian mechanics.

Medicine

December 5 – Rev. Dr. Francis Willis is called in to advise on treatment of the mental condition of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Technology

February 1 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent a steamboat in the United States.
October 14 – William Symington demonstrates a paddle steamer on Dalswinton Loch in Scotland.^[6]^[7]

Awards

Copley Medal: Charles Blagden ^[8]

Births

March 7 – Antoine César Becquerel, French scientist (died 1878)
March 22 – Pierre Joseph Pelletier, French chemist (died 1842)
April 18 – Charlotte Murchison, Scottish geologist (died 1869)
May 10 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist (died 1827)
July 1 – Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mechanical and military engineer and mathematician (died 1867)
July 23 – Prideaux John Selby, English ornithologist (died 1867)
September 12 – Charlotte von Siebold, German gynecologist (died 1859)
October 14 – Edward Sabine, Anglo Irish physicist, astronomer and explorer (died 1883)
December 21 – Thomas Southwood Smith, English physician and sanitary reformer (died 1861)
James Murray, Irish physician (died 1871)

Deaths

April 16 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (born 1707)
May 8 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-Austrian naturalist (born 1723)
October 17 – John Brown, Scottish-born physician (born 1735)
December 6 - Nicole-Reine Lepaute, French astronomer (born 1723)
Lucia Galeazzi Galvani, Italian scientist (born 1743)
approx. date – Moses Harris, English entomologist and engraver (born 1730)

References

↑ Jenner, Edward (1788-03-13). "Observations on the Natural History of the Cuckoo, in a Letter to John Hunter, Esq. F.R.S." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . 78. London: 219–237. doi: 10.1098/rstl.1788.0016 . Retrieved 2013-05-08.
↑ Sealy, Spencer G.; Guigueno, Mélanie F. (2011). "Cuckoo chicks evicting their nest mates: coincidental observations by Edward Jenner in England and Antoine Joseph Lottinger in France" (PDF). Archives of Natural History . 38: 220–228. doi:10.3366/anh.2011.0030. ISSN 0260-9541 . Retrieved 2013-05-08.
↑ "Utamaro". Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum . Retrieved 2013-12-02.
↑ Ward, Daniel B. (2007). "Scientific Note: Quercus sinuata Walter ... Rediscovered and Neotypified" . Castanea. 72 (3). Southern Appalachian Botanical Society: 177–181. doi:10.2179/0008-7475(2007)72[177:SNQSWH]2.0.CO;2 . Retrieved 2011-04-05.
↑ Vol. 1(2) pp. 209–304. Theory of the Earth. Archived July 29, 2003, at the Wayback Machine
↑ Harvey, W. S.; Downs-Rose, G. (1980). William Symington, Inventor and Engine Builder. London: Northgate Publishing. ISBN 0-85298-443-X.
↑ Macleod, Innes; Neil, James (1988). The Dalswinton steamboat 1788–1988. Dumfries: Farries. ISBN 0-948278-08-0.
↑ "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

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[1] Jenner, Edward (1788-03-13). "Observations on the Natural History of the Cuckoo, in a Letter to John Hunter, Esq. F.R.S." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . 78. London: 219–237. doi: 10.1098/rstl.1788.0016 . Retrieved 2013-05-08.

[2] Sealy, Spencer G.; Guigueno, Mélanie F. (2011). "Cuckoo chicks evicting their nest mates: coincidental observations by Edward Jenner in England and Antoine Joseph Lottinger in France" (PDF). Archives of Natural History . 38: 220–228. doi:10.3366/anh.2011.0030. ISSN 0260-9541 . Retrieved 2013-05-08.

[3] "Utamaro". Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum . Retrieved 2013-12-02.

[4] Ward, Daniel B. (2007). "Scientific Note: Quercus sinuata Walter ... Rediscovered and Neotypified" . Castanea. 72 (3). Southern Appalachian Botanical Society: 177–181. doi:10.2179/0008-7475(2007)72[177:SNQSWH]2.0.CO;2 . Retrieved 2011-04-05.

[5] Vol. 1(2) pp. 209–304. Theory of the Earth. Archived July 29, 2003, at the Wayback Machine

[6] Harvey, W. S.; Downs-Rose, G. (1980). William Symington, Inventor and Engine Builder. London: Northgate Publishing. ISBN 0-85298-443-X.

[7] Macleod, Innes; Neil, James (1988). The Dalswinton steamboat 1788–1988. Dumfries: Farries. ISBN 0-948278-08-0.

[8] "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

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