1838 in science
overview of natural science-related events during the year of 1838
The year 1838 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
Astronomy
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel makes the first accurate measurement of distance to a star, 61 Cygni, using parallax. Thomas Henderson (Alpha Centauri) and Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve (Vega) announce their measurements using parallax shortly afterwards.
Claude Servais Mathias Pouillet makes the first quantitative measurements of the heat emitted by the Sun.
Peter Andreas Hansen publishes a revision of the lunar theory, Fundamenta nova investigationis orbitae verae quam luna perlustrat.
Biology
May 9 – Royal Agricultural Society of England established.
Proteins discovered by Gerardus Johannes Mulder and named by Jöns Jakob Berzelius.
Matthias Schleiden discovers that all living plant tissue is composed of cells.
Andrew Smith begins publication of Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa.
Chemistry
Bulat steel alloy developed by Pavel Petrovich Anosov.
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