1706 in science

Mathematics

• William Jones publishes in which he
• * proposes using the symbol π to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
• * introduces John Machin's quickly converging inverse-tangent series for π, enabling it to be computed to 100 decimal places.

  Technology

• Francis Hauksbee produces his 'Influence machine' to generate static electricity.

  Publications

• Johann Jakob Scheuchzer begins publication in Zürich of his Beschreibung der Naturgeschichten des Schweitzerlands giving an account of the natural history and geology of Switzerland.
• Giovanni Battista Morgagni publishes , the first in a series in which he describes his observations of human anatomy.

  Births

• January 17 – Benjamin Franklin, American scientist and inventor, known for his experiments with electricity
• January 28 – John Baskerville, English printer and inventor
• February 11 – Nils Rosén von Rosenstein, Swedish pediatrician
• May 12 – François Boissier de Sauvages de Lacroix, French physician and botanist
• June 10 – John Dollond, English optician
• December 17 – Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist
• Date unknown – Giuseppe Asclepi, Italian astronomer and physicist

  Deaths

• June 15 – Giorgio Baglivi, Italian physician
• August 6 – Jean-Baptiste Du Hamel, French scientist, philosophe
• Date unknown – Jean Le Fèvre, French astronomer
• Date unknown – Jeanne Dumée, French astronomer