1739 in science
The year 1739 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Earth sciences
- Plinian eruption of Mount Tarumae volcano in Japan.
Exploration
- January 1 – Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Mathematics
- Leonhard Euler solves the general homogeneous linear ordinary differential equation with constant coefficients.
- Euler invents the tonnetz, a conceptual lattice diagram that shows a two-dimensional tonal pitch space created by the network of relationships between musical pitches in just intonation.
Physics
- Émilie du Châtelet publishes Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu.
Awards
Societies
- June 2 – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is founded in Stockholm by Linnaeus, Mårten Triewald and others.
Births
- November 14 – William Hewson, English surgeon, anatomist and physiologist, "father of haematology"
- December 14 – Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French industrialist
- Israel Lyons, English mathematician and botanist
Deaths
- April 19 – Nicholas Saunderson, English scientist and mathematician
- April 27 – Nicolas Sarrabat, French scientist, astronomer and mathematician