1777 in science

The year 1777 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Exploration

 * March – Third voyage of James Cook: English explorer Captain Cook discovers Mangaia and Atiu in the Cook Islands.

Mathematics

 * Leonhard Euler introduces the symbol i to represent the square root of −1.

Technology

 * probable date – Thomas Arnold of London produces the first watch ("Arnold 36") to be called a chronometer.

Awards

 * Copley Medal: John Mudge

Births

 * February 12 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist (died 1838)
 * April 30 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician (died 1855)
 * May 4 – Louis Jacques Thénard, French chemist (died 1857)
 * May 18 – John George Children, English chemist, mineralogist and entomologist (died 1852)
 * August 14 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist (died 1851)

Deaths

 * September 22 – John Bartram, naturalist and explorer considered the "father of American botany" (born 1699)
 * September 25 – Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss polymath (born 1728)
 * December 7 – Albrecht von Haller, Swiss anatomist and physiologist (born 1708)
 * Celia Grillo Borromeo, Italian scientist and mathematician (born 1684)