1731 in science

Agriculture and horticulture

• Philip Miller publishes The Gardeners Dictionary, containing the Methods of Cultivating and Improving the Kitchen Fruit and Flower Garden in London.
• Jethro Tull publishes The New Horse-Houghing Husbandry; or, an essay on the principles of tillage and vegetation in London.

  Astronomy

• John Bevis observes the Crab Nebula for the first time in the modern era.
• The octant is developed by John Hadley.
• The orrery is developed as an apparatus showing the relative positions of heavenly bodies in the solar system by using balls moved by wheelwork.

  Exploration

• English Captain Charles Gough rediscovers Gough Island in the South Atlantic.

  Geology

• The modern seismograph is developed by Italian scientist Nicholas Cerillo using a pendulum.

  Medicine

• Laura Bassi becomes the first official female university teacher on being appointed professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna at the age of 21.
• The Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge in Edinburgh begins publication of the peer reviewed Medical Essays and Observations.

  Technology

• The harpoon gun is developed and used for the purpose of throwing the harpoon into the body of whales.

  Publications

• Publication begins in Augsburg and Ulm of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer's Physica Sacra which attempts to provide a scientific explanation of Biblical history.

  Awards

• Copley Medal: The first Copley Medal is awarded to Stephen Gray.

  Births

• October 10 – Henry Cavendish, English scientist
• November 9 – Benjamin Banneker, African-American astronomer and surveyor
• December 12 – Erasmus Darwin, English physician and botanist

  Deaths

• January 6 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist
• December 29 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician