1840 in science

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The year 1840 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Events

William Whewell publishes The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, introducing the terms scientist (for the second time) and physicist.^[1]^[2]^[3]
Justus von Liebig publishes Die Organische Chemie in ihre Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie in Braunschweig, emphasising the importance of agricultural chemistry in crop production; it will go through at least eight editions.^[4]

Louis Agassiz publishes his Etudes sur les glaciers, the first major scientific work to propose that the Earth has seen an ice age.

January 19 - Captain Charles Wilkes' United States Exploring Expedition sights Wilkes Land, providing evidence that Antarctica is a complete continent.^[5]
January 21 - Adélie Land first visited by Jules Dumont d'Urville in the French ship Astrolabe.^[6]
The Nemesis (1839) becomes the first iron ship to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, aided by techniques to adjust the compass for the effect of an iron hull developed the year before by George Biddell Airy, the Astronomer Royal.^[7]

Publication begins in Paris of the Œuvres complètes d’Ambroise Paré edited by Joseph-François Malgaigne.

^ Whewell, William (1840). "Introduction". The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, founded upon their history. 1. London: J. W. Parker. pp. 113, 71.
^ "scientist, n.". Oxford English Dictionary online version. Oxford University Press. September 2011. http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/172698. Retrieved 2011-12-02. Subscription or UK public library membership required
^ "physicist, n.". Oxford English Dictionary online version. Oxford University Press. September 2011. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/143131?redirectedFrom=Physicist#eid. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
^ Black, George W. (1978). "Justus Liebig's Contribution to Agricultural Chemistry". Journal of Chemical Education (American Chemical Society) 55: 33. doi:10.1021/ed055p33.1. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ed055p33.1. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
^ "Antarctic Exploration — Chronology". Quark Expeditions. 2004. Archived from the original on 2006-09-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20060908120017/http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/antarctica/exploration.shtml. Retrieved 2006-10-20.
^ Guillon, Jacques (1986). Dumont d'Urville. Paris: France-Empire. ISBN 2704804729.
^ Headrick, Daniel R. (1981). The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195028325.