1715 in science

The year 1715 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

* May 3 - Total solar eclipse across southern England, Sweden and Finland (last total eclipse visible in London, UK for almost 900 years).
* Edmond Halley suggests that nebulae are clouds of interstellar gas.

Discoveries

* Ginseng, first used by Native Americans, is discovered by a Jesuit missionary in Canada.
* Mine La Motte, in Madison county, Missouri, is discovered by De la Motte Cadillac.
* The "miracle" springs are discovered in Cheltenham, England, a small Cotswold village at the time.

Geology

* Edmund Halley suggests using the salinity and evaporation of salt lakes to determine the age of the Earth. [cite book |title=The Chronologers' Quest: The Search for the Age of the Earth |author=Jackson, Patrick Wyse |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521813328 |page=61 Halley's original paper was titled "A Short Account of the Cause of the Saltness of the Ocean, and of the Several Lakes That Emit no Rivers; With a Proposal, by Help Thereof, to Discover the Age of the World."]

Mathematics

* Brook Taylor's "Methodus Incrementorum Directa et Inversa" added a new branch to the higher mathematics, now designated the "calculus of finite differences."
* Taylor also published his "Essay on Linear Perspective", which discussed the principles of perspective and the vanishing point.

Technology

* The first recognised fire extinguisher is invented.
* In clock making, Graham's mercurial compensation pendulum is invented.

Births

* April 3 - William Watson, English physician and scientist (died 1787 in science)
* September 22 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (died 1786)
* October 8 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (died 1774)
* November 23 - Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (died 1799)

Deaths

* January 19 - Nicolas Lemery, French chemist (born 1645)
* February 17 - Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (born 1646)
* March - William Dampier, English explorer and hydrographic surveyor who circumnavigated the world three times (born 1651)
* August 16 - Raymond Vieussens, French anatomist (born c. 1635)
* September 24 - Wilhelm Homberg, Dutch/French chemist (born 1652)
* October 15 - Humphry Ditton, English mathematician (born 1675)
* "date unknown" - Thomas Savery, English inventor of steam engine (born 1650)

References