1781 in science

The year 1781 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

 * March 13 – William Herschel observes Uranus (although initially recording it as a comet).
 * March 20 – Pierre Méchain discovers dwarf galaxy NGC 5195.
 * Charles Messier's final catalogue of Messier objects is published.
 * Christian Mayer's catalogue of binary stars is published.

Biology

 * Felice Fontana uses a microscope to describe the axon of a brain cell.
 * John Latham begins publication of A General Synopsis of Birds.

Chemistry

 * Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald is granted a British patent for the manufacture of coal tar.
 * Carl Wilhelm Scheele ascertains that a new acid can be made from tungstenite, leading to the discovery of tungsten in 1783.
 * Autumn – Peter Jacob Hjelm isolates molybdenum.

Awards

 * Copley Medal: William Herschel

Births

 * January 30 – Adelbert von Chamisso, poet and botanist (died 1838)
 * February 17 – Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, French physician, inventor of the stethoscope (died 1826).
 * May 29 – John Walker, English chemist (died 1859)
 * June 9 – George Stephenson, English locomotive engineer (died 1848)
 * June 21 – Siméon Poisson, mathematician (died 1840)
 * July 6 – Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of the Zoological Society of London (died 1826)
 * September 14 – James Walker, Scottish civil engineer (died 1862)
 * October 5 – Bernhard Bolzano, mathematician (died 1848)
 * December 11 – David Brewster, Scottish physicist (died 1868)

Deaths

 * May 27 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (born 1716)