1661 in science

The year 1661 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Biology

 * Marcello Malpighi is the first to observe and correctly describe capillaries when he discovers them in a frog's lung.

Chemistry

 * Robert Boyle's The Sceptical Chymist is published in London.

Environment

 * John Evelyn's pamphlet Fumifugium is one of the earliest descriptions of air pollution.

Publications

 * Abraham Cowley's pamphlet The Advancement of Experimental Philosophy.
 * Johann Sperling's handbook Zoologia physica (posthumous).

Births

 * May 3 – Antonio Vallisneri, Italian physician and natural scientist (died 1730)
 * December 18 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (died 1751)
 * Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital, French mathematician (died 1704)
 * approx. date – Alida Withoos, Dutch botanical artist (died 1730)

Events

 * Isaac Newton is admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, as a sizar (June)

Deaths

 * October – Gérard Desargues, French geometer (born 1591)