1680 in science
The year 1680 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- 14 November NS – Great Comet of 1680 observed by Gottfried Kirch, the first comet discovered by telescope.
Biology
- English comparative anatomist Edward Tyson publishes Phocæna, or The anatomy of a porpess, dissected at Gresham Colledge, concluding that the porpoise is a mammal.
- Robert Morison publishes Plantarum Historiae Universalis Oxoniensis, Pars Secunda, seu Herbarum Distributio Nova per Tabulas Cognationis et Affinitatis ex Libro Naturae observata et detecta, utilising his method of taxonomy.
Chemistry
- 30 September – Robert Boyle reports to the Royal Society of London his manufacture of phosphorus. He uses it to ignite sulfur-tipped wooden splints, forerunners of the match.
Physics
- 8 July – Robert Hooke observes the nodal patterns associated with the vibrations of glass plates.
Deaths
- 17 February – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch naturalist, founder of both comparative anatomy and entomology
- 22 March – François Cureau de La Chambre, French physician
- Marie Meurdrac, French chemist and alchemist