1839 in science - Definition

The year 1839 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.

Biology

• Theodor Schwann proposes that all living matter is made up of cells

Chemistry

• Carl Mosander discovers lanthanum

Exploration

• James Clark Ross sets off on the first scientific expedition to survey Antarctica

Geology

• Roderick Murchison names the Silurian period

Technology

• January 9 - The French Academy of Sciences announces theDaguerreotype photography process
• Invention of the bicycle by Kirkpatrick Macmillan
• Invention of the fuel cell by William Grove
• Development of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear
• Development of Babbitt metal by Isaac Babbitt

Awards

• Copley Medal: Robert Brown
• Wollaston Medal: Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg

Births

• February 11 - Josiah Willard Gibbs (d. 1903), theoretical physicist, chemist.
• April 12 - Nikolai Przewalski (d. 1888), explorer.

Deaths

• April 8 - Pierre Prévost (b. 1751), physicist.
• June 27 - Allan Cunningham (b. 1791), botanist and explorer.
• August 28 - William Smith (b. 1769), geologist
• September 29 - Friedrich Mohs (b. 1773), German mineralogist
• November 15 - William Murdoch (b. 1754), inventor and technician.