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The year 1715 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

• May 3 - Total solar eclipse across southern England, Sweden and Finland (last total eclipse visible in London, UK for almost 900 years).
• Edmond Halley suggests that nebulae are clouds of interstellar gas.

Discoveries

• Ginseng, first used by Native Americans, is discovered by a Jesuit missionary in Canada.
• Mine La Motte, in Madison county, Missouri, is discovered by De la Motte Cadillac.
• The "miracle" springs are discovered in Cheltenham, England, a small Cotswold village at the time.

Geology

• Edmund Halley suggests using the salinity and evaporation of salt lakes to determine the age of the Earth.^[1]

Mathematics

• Brook Taylor's Methodus Incrementorum Directa et Inversa added a new branch to the higher mathematics, now designated the "calculus of finite differences."
• Taylor also published his Essay on Linear Perspective, which discussed the principles of perspective and the vanishing point.

Technology

• The first recognised fire extinguisher is invented.
• In clock making, Graham's mercurial compensation pendulum is invented.

Births

• April 3 - William Watson, English physician and scientist (died 1787 in science)
• September 22 - Jean-Étienne Guettard, French physician and scientist (died 1786)
• October 8 - Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist (died 1774)
• November 23 - Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (died 1799)

Deaths

• January 19 - Nicolas Lemery, French chemist (born 1645)
• February 17 - Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (born 1646)
• March - William Dampier, English explorer and hydrographic surveyor who circumnavigated the world three times (born 1651)
• August 16 - Raymond Vieussens, French anatomist (born c. 1635)
• September 24 - Wilhelm Homberg, Dutch/French chemist (born 1652)
• October 15 - Humphry Ditton, English mathematician (born 1675)
• date unknown - Thomas Savery, English inventor of steam engine (born 1650)

References