1807 in science
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The year 1807 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
Astronomy
- March 29 – H. W. Olbers discovers the asteroid which Carl Friedrich Gauss names Vesta.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Chemistry
- Potassium and sodium are isolated by Sir Humphry Davy.
- The use of fulminate in firearms is patented by Scottish clergyman Alexander John Forsyth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Geology
- The Geological Society is founded in London; among the more prominent founders are William Babington, James Parkinson, Humphry Davy and George Bellas Greenough.
Mathematics
- William Wallace proves that any two simple polygons of equal area are equidecomposable, later known as the Wallace–Bolyai–Gerwien theorem.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Medicine
- Samuel Hahnemann first introduces the term 'homeopathy' in an essay, "Indications of the Homeopathic Employment of Medicines in Ordinary Practice", published in Versammlung der Hufelandische medicinisch-chirurgischen Gesellschaft.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- British Army surgeon John Vetch describes the keratoconjunctivitis ("Egyptian ophthalmia") suffered by troops returned from service overseas;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> he identifies it as epidemic.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Technology
- July 20 – French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce receive a patent for their Pyréolophore, an early internal combustion engine, having demonstrated it powering a boat on the Saône.
- August 17 – Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat makes her first trip from New York City to Albany.
- November 19 – English inventor Lionel Lukin launches the world's first sailing self-righting rescue life-boat, the Frances Anne, at Lowestoft.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- William Cubitt patents self-regulating sails for windmills.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Henry Maudslay patents an improved table engine.
- William Hyde Wollaston patents the camera lucida.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Zoology
- April 21 – The Tasmanian devil is first described, by George Prideaux Robert Harris.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Publications
- Alexander von Humboldt's {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} begins publication.
- Thomas Young's A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts published.
Awards
- Copley Medal: Everard Home<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Births
- January 28 – Robert McClure, Irish-born Arctic explorer (died 1873)
- May 28 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born American zoologist and geologist (died 1873)
- November 14 – Auguste Laurent, French chemist (died 1853)
- November 30 – William Farr, English epidemiologist (died 1883)
Deaths
- February 27 – Louise du Pierry, French astronomer (born 1746)
- April 4 – Jérôme Lalande, French astronomer (born 1732)
- December 5 – Francis Willis, English physician specialising in mental disorders (born 1718)