1696 in science

History of science

• Daniel Le Clerc publishes Histoire de la médecine in Geneva, the first comprehensive work on the subject.

  Mathematics

• Guillaume de l'Hôpital publishes Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes, the first textbook on differential calculus, including a statement of his rule for the computation of certain limits.
• Jakob Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli solve the brachistochrone curve problem, the first result in the calculus of variations.

  Births

• unknown date - Christine Kirch, German astronomer

  Deaths

• April 30 – Robert Plot, English naturalist and chemist
• Jean Richer, French astronomer