1700 in science

Exploration

• Edmond Halley, aboard HMS Paramour, observes the Antarctic Convergence.

  Geology

• January 26 – At approximately 9 p.m., the Cascadia earthquake occurred with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. This megathrust earthquake ruptured about of the Cascadia Subduction Zone and caused a tsunami that struck the coast of Japan approximately 10 hours later.

  Medicine

• Nicolas Andry publishes De la génération des vers dans les corps de l'homme, a pioneering text in the germ theory of disease.
• Bernardino Ramazzini publishes De Morbis Artificum Diatriba in Modena, a pioneering text in occupational medicine.

  Technology

• approx. date – The clarinet might have been invented by the German flute maker Johann Christoph Denner as a modification of the chalumeau, but it will not be until the late 18th century that composers include clarinets into their orchestrations.
• The piano, newly invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori, is listed in an inventory of musical instruments owned by the Medici.

  Institutions

• July 11 – The Prussian Academy of Sciences is founded with Leibniz as president.

  Births

• February 8 – Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician
• May 7 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician
• November 19 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French clergyman and physicist
• November 28 – Nathaniel Bliss, English astronomer
• Undated
• * William Braikenridge, Scottish clergyman and geometer
• * George Martine, Scottish physician and scientist

  Deaths

• May 22 – Louis Jolliet, Canadian explorer
• August 8 – Joseph Moxon, English mathematician
• Undated – Kamalakara, Indian astronomer and mathematician