1675 in science

Astronomy

• March 4 – John Flamsteed appointed as "astronomical observator", in effect, the first Astronomer Royal of England.
• August 10 – King Charles II of England places the foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory near London.
• Giovanni Cassini discovers the Cassini Division in the rings of Saturn.

Exploration

• April – The Antarctic Convergence is first crossed by English merchant Anthony de la Roché, who lands on South Georgia.

Mathematics

• October 29 – German polymath Gottfried Leibniz makes the first use of the long s (∫) as a symbol of the integral in calculus.
• November 11 – Leibniz uses infinitesimal calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of the function y=f(x).

Physiology and medicine

• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek begins to use a microscope for observing human tissues and liquids.

Technology

• February 25 – Netherlands scientist Christiaan Huygens files drawings of his invention of the balance spring, the key component to the accuracy of portable clocks and pocket watches, in a letter to the Journal des Sçavants.

Births

• February 28 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (died 1726)

Deaths

• October – James Gregory, Scottish mathematician and astronomer (born 1638)
• October 27 – Gilles de Roberval, French mathematician (born 1602)
• November 11 – Thomas Willis, English physician (born 1621)
• approx. date – John Jonston, Polish naturalist and physician (born 1603)

References

References

1. Palmer, Alan. (1992). "The Chronology of British History". Century Ltd.
2. Willmoth, Frances. (2004). "Flamsteed, John (1646–1719)". Oxford University Press.
3. Headland, Robert. (1992). "The Island of South Georgia". Cambridge University Press.