1689 in science
The year 1689 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
Botany
- Pierre Magnol publishes Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur in Montpellier, the first example of a natural classification of plant families based on morphological characteristics.
Earth sciences
- Johann Weikhard von Valvasor, a pioneer of the study of karst in Slovenia introduces the word karst to European scholars, describing the phenomenon of underground flows of rivers in his account of Lake Cerknica.
Medicine
- Walter Harris publishes De Morbis Acutis Infantum in London; it remains a standard textbook on pediatrics for nearly a century.
- Richard Morton published Phthisiologia, seu exercitationes de Phthisi tribus libris comprehensae, emphasizing the tubercle as the origin of tuberculosis.
Technology
- A centrifugal pump is invented by Denis Papin.
- Physician and collector Hans Sloane develops a milk chocolate drink in Jamaica.
- The first US newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, is printed in Massachusetts.
- The earliest known English breech-loading rifle is built by Willmore, who was apprenticed to Foad.
Events
- Isaac Newton becomes a Member of Parliament.
- Godfrey Kneller paints a portrait of Isaac Newton at age 46.
Births
Deaths
- December 29 – Thomas Sydenham, English physician