1663 in science
The year 1663 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- Scottish mathematician James Gregory publishes Optica Promota, describing theoretically the Gregorian telescope.
Exploration
- March 4 – The Prince Edward Islands in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean are discovered by Barent Barentszoon Lam of the Dutch ship Maerseveen and named Dina and Maerseveen.
Mathematics
- The first book about games of chance, Girolamo Cardano's Liber de ludo aleae, written in the 1560s, is published.
Meteorology
- October 7 – Robert Hooke presents his "Method for making a history of the weather" to the Royal Society of London.
Technology
- The earliest known surviving clock with an anchor escapement is made by William Clement in England.
Publications
- Robert Boyle publishes Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy.
Births
- August 31 – Guillaume Amontons, French scientific instrument inventor and physicist