1670 in science

The year 1670 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Botany

John Ray publishes Catalogus plantarum Angliæ, the basis of all later floras of England.{{cite web|title=John Ray: Catalogus plantarum Angliae|url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/specialcollections/virtualexhibitions/birdsbeesandblooms/blooms/johnraycatalogusplantarumangliae/|website=www.gla.ac.uk|accessdate=5 April 2018}}
The predecessor of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is opened as a physic garden by Drs Robert Sibbald and Andrew Balfour in Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotland.{{cite web|title=Lost Edinburgh: The Physic Garden|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/lost-edinburgh-the-physic-garden-1-3494503|website=Scotsman|accessdate=5 April 2018}}

Jean Picard calculates the Earth radius to within 0.44% of the modern value.{{cite book|last1=Barentine|first1=John C.|title=The Lost Constellations: A History of Obsolete, Extinct, or Forgotten Star Lore|date=2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319227955|page=308|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_7NCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA308}}
Agostino Scilla publishes {{lang|it|La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso: lettera risponsiva c. i corpi marini, che petrificati si trovano in varii luoghi terrestri}} ("Vain Speculation Undeceived by Sense") in Naples, arguing for an organic origin for fossils.{{cite web|title=Scilla, Agostino, 1670, La Vana Speculazione. Engraved title page. :: Emblematic Science|url=http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/emblematic/id/62|website=lhldigital.lindahall.org|accessdate=5 April 2018}}

The first longcase clock is built in England by William Clement.{{cite book|last1=Usry|first1=Terri|title=Antique Clocks: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly|date=2015|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=9781329632738|page=22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkHPCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT22}}

February 25 – Maria Margarethe Kirch born Winckelmann, German astronomer (died 1720){{cite web|title=Maria Kirch – German astronomer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Kirch|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=5 April 2018}}

March 10 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German chemist (born 1604){{cite web|title=The Galileo Project|url=http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/glauber.html|website=galileo.rice.edu|accessdate=5 April 2018}}
May 21 – Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer (born 1586){{cite web|title=Niccolò Zucci – Italian astronomer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Niccolo-Zucchi|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=5 April 2018}}