1717 in science
The year 1717 in science and technology involved:
Biology
- Thomas Fairchild, a nurseryman at Hoxton in the East End of London, becomes the first person to produce a successful scientific plant hybrid, Dianthus Caryophyllus barbatus, known as "Fairchild's Mule" because it is infertile.
- James Petiver publishes Papilionum Brittaniae Icones, the first book devoted exclusively to British butterflies, giving English names to a number of species.
Births
- June 5 – Emanuel Mendes da Costa, English botanist
- June 28 – Matthew Stewart, Scottish mathematician
- September 11 – Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, Swedish astronomer
- November 16 – Jean le Rond d'Alembert, French mathematician
- Pierre Le Roy, French clockmaker
- Wilhelm Friedrich von Gleichen, German microscopist
Deaths
- January 13 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-born naturalist
- March 8 – Abraham Darby I, English ironmaster