1797 in science

• Smithson Tennant demonstrates that diamond is a pure form of carbon. • Louis Nicolas Vauquelin discovers chromium. • Joseph Proust proposes the law of definite proportions, which states that elements always combine in small, whole number ratios to form compounds. ==Mathematics==

• Lagrange publishes his Théorie des fonctions analytiques. ==Physics==

• Giovanni Battista Venturi describes the Venturi effect. ==Technology==

• October 22 – André-Jacques Garnerin carries out the first descent using a frameless parachute, a (3,200 feet) drop from a balloon in Paris. • English naval engineer Samuel Bentham applies for patents covering several machines to produce wood veneers; in his patent applications, he describes the concept of laminating several layers of veneer with glue to form a thicker piece – the first description of what in modern times becomes known as plywood. ==Zoology==

• Thomas Bewick publishes the first volume, Land Birds, of his History of British Birds. ==Awards==

• Copley Medal: Not awarded ==Births==

• January 3 – Frederick William Hope, British zoologist (died 1862) • January 4 – Wilhelm Beer, Prussian astronomer (died 1850) • February – Joseph-Alphonse Adhémar, French mathematician (died 1862) • February 2 – Joseph Guislain, Flemish psychiatrist (died 1860) • February 5 – Jean-Marie Duhamel, French mathematician and physicist (died 1872) • March 10 – George Poulett Scrope, British geologist and economist (died 1876) • March 21 – Johann Andreas Wagner, German paleontologist, zoologist and archeologist (died 1861) • April 29 – George Don, Scottish botanist (died 1856) • May 2 – Abraham Gesner, Canadian inventor of kerosene (died 1864) • May 30 – Karl Friedrich Naumann, German geologist and mineralogist (died 1873) • July 14 – James Scott Bowerbank, British naturalist, geologist and paleontologist (died 1877) • July 26 – William Hutton, British geologist and paleontologist (died 1860) • August 23 – Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant, French mechanician and mathematician (died 1886) • August 31 – James Ferguson, Scottish-born American astronomer (died 1867) • September 1 – Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut, French chemist (died 1881) • September 10 – Carl Gustaf Mosander, Swedish chemist (died 1858) • September 17 – Heinrich Kuhl, German zoologist (died 1821) • October 4 – Félix Savary, French astronomer (died 1841) • October 5 – John Gardner Wilkinson, British egyptologist (died 1875) • November 14 – Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (died 1875) • November 20 - Mary Buckland, British paleontologist and marine biologist (died 1857) • December 3 • Margaretta Morris, American entomologist (died 1867) • Andrew Smith, Scottish military surgeon, explorer, ethnologist and zoologist (died 1872) • December 17 – Joseph Henry, American scientist (died 1878) • December 23 – Adrien-Henri de Jussieu, French botanist (died 1853) ==Deaths==

• March 16 – Cristina Roccati, Italian scholar in physics (born 1732) • March 26 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist (born 1726) • June 13 – Samuel-Auguste Tissot, Swiss physician (born 1728) • August 29 – Joseph Wright, English painter of scientific subjects (born 1734) • date unknown – Wang Zhenyi, Chinese Qing dynasty female astronomer and poet (born 1768) ==References==