1781 in science
The year 1781 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- March 13 – William Herschel observes Uranus.
- March 20 – Pierre Méchain discovers dwarf galaxy NGC 5195.
- Charles Messier's final catalogue of Messier objects is published.
- Christian Mayer's catalogue of binary stars is published.
Biology
- Felice Fontana uses a microscope to describe the axon of a brain cell.
- John Latham begins publication of A General Synopsis of Birds.
Chemistry
- Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald is granted a British patent for the manufacture of coal tar.
- Carl Wilhelm Scheele ascertains that a new acid can be made from tungstenite, leading to the discovery of tungsten in 1783.
- Autumn – Peter Jacob Hjelm isolates molybdenum.
Awards
Births
- January 30 – Adelbert von Chamisso, poet and botanist
- February 17 – Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, French physician, inventor of the stethoscope.
- May 29 – John Walker, English chemist
- June 9 – George Stephenson, English locomotive engineer
- June 21 – Siméon Poisson, mathematician
- July 6 – Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of the Zoological Society of London
- September 14 – James Walker, Scottish civil engineer
- October 5 – Bernhard Bolzano, mathematician
- December 11 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist