The year 1887 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.

Awards

• Copley Medal: Joseph Dalton Hooker
• Wollaston Medal for Geology: John Whitaker Hulke

Births

• June 22 - Julian Huxley (d. 1975), British biologist and author.
• August 18 - Erwin Schrödinger (d. 1961), physicist.

Deaths

• January 22 - Joseph Whitworth (b. 1803), English mechanical engineer.
• August 15 - Julius von Haast (b. 1824), German geologist.
• August 19 - Spencer Fullerton Baird (b. 1823), ornithologist and ichthyologist.
• October 17 - Gustav Kirchhoff (b. 1824), physicist.