1670 in science

The year 1670 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Botany

• John Ray publishes Catalogus plantarum Angliæ, the basis of all later floras of England.
• The predecessor of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is opened by Drs Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour.

Earth sciences

• Jean Picard calculates the radius of the Earth to within 0.44% of the modern value.
• Agostino Scilla publishes La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso: lettera risponsiva c. i corpi marini, che petrificati si trovano in varii luoghi terrestri ("Vain Speculation Undeceived by Sense") in Naples, arguing for an organic origin for fossils.

Technology

• The first longcase clock is built in England by William Clement.

Births

• February 25 – Maria Margarethe Kirch born Winckelmann, German astronomer (died 1720)

Deaths

• March 10 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German chemist (born 1604)
• May 21 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer (born 1586)