The year 1759 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

Halley's Comet

Biology

Caspar Friedrich Wolff's dissertation at the University of Halle Theoria Generationis supports the theory of epigenesis.[1]

Botany

Kew Gardens established in England by Augusta of Saxe-Coburg, the mother of George III.[2]

Geology

Giovanni Arduino proposes dividing the geological history of Earth into four periods: Primitive, Secondary, Tertiary and Volcanic, or Quaternary.[3]

Physics

Posthumous publication of Émilie du Châtelet's French translation and commentary on Newton's Principia, Principes mathématiques de la philosophie naturelle.

Medicine

Angélique du Coudray publishes Abrégé de l'art des accouchements ("The Art of Obstetrics").

Transport

James Brindley is engaged by the Duke of Bridgewater to construct a canal to transport coal to Manchester from the duke's mines at Worsley, in North West England.
October 16 – Smeaton's Tower, John Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of South West England, is first illuminated.[4]

Awards

Copley Medal: John Smeaton

Births

December 2 - James Edward Smith, English botanist (died 1828)
Date unknown - Maria Pettracini, Italian anatomist and physician (died 1791)

Deaths

September 10 - Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (born 1703)

27 July 1759 Death of Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, in Basle, Switzerland

References

^ Petrunkevitch, Alexander (June 1920). "Russia's Contribution to Science". Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences (New Haven) 23: 235.
^ "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". World Heritage. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 17 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
^ Bates, Marston (1950). The Nature of Natural History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 51.
^ "Eddystone Lighthouse". Trinity House. Archived from the original on 09 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-06.