The year 1742 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.

See also: 1741 in science, other events of 1742, 1743 in science and the list of years in science.

Awards

• Copley Medal: Christopher Middleton

Births

• May 18 - Lionel Lukin (d. 1834), inventor.
• December 9 - Carl Wilhelm Scheele (d. 1786), Swedish chemist.

Deaths

• January 14 - Edmond Halley, English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist (born 1656).