1612 in science
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The year 1612 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- The first description of the Andromeda Galaxy based on observations by telescope is given by Simon Marius.{{cite web|title=Andromeda Galaxy|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Andromeda-Galaxy|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=3 April 2018}}
- December 28 – Galileo observes the planet Neptune for the first time when it is in conjunction with Jupiter, but mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star because of its extremely slow motion along the ecliptic, and it will not be properly identified until 1846.
Medicine
Births
- approx. date – William Gascoigne, English inventor (died 1644){{cite book|last1=Vaquero|first1=J. M.|last2=Vázquez|first2=M.|title=The Sun Recorded Through History|date=2009|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9780387927909|page=236|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iWkyiEeiyksC&pg=PA236}}
Deaths
- February – John Gerard, English herbalist (born c. 1545){{cite web|title=John Gerard – English herbalist and author|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Gerard|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=3 April 2018}}
- February 6 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1537){{cite web|title=The Galileo Project|url=http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/clavius.html|website=galileo.rice.edu|accessdate=3 April 2018}}
- February 12 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (born 1563){{cite web|title=Jodocus Hondius|url=https://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Author?author=Hondius%2C+Jodocus%2C+1563-1612|website=brbl-dl.library.yale.edu|accessdate=3 April 2018}}
- November 20 – Sir John Harington, English inventor (born 1561){{cite web|title=Sir John Harington – English author|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Harington|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=3 April 2018}}