1696 in science
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The year 1696 in science and technology involved some significant events.
History of science
- Daniel Le Clerc publishes Histoire de la médecine in Geneva, the first comprehensive work on the subject.{{cite web|title=History of Medicine: Bibliography|url=http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/M/MED/medicine-39.html|work=1902 Encyclopedia|accessdate=2011-10-10}}
Mathematics
- Guillaume de l'Hôpital publishes Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes, the first textbook on differential calculus,{{cite web|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/De_L'Hopital.html|title=Guillaume François Antoine Marquis de L'Hôpital|first1=J. J.|last1=O'Connor|last2=Robertson|first2=E. F.|work=MacTutor History of Mathematics archive|publisher=School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews|accessdate=2011-06-03 |date=December 2008}} including a statement of his rule for the computation of certain limits.
- Jakob Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli solve the brachistochrone curve problem, the first result in the calculus of variations.
Births
- unknown date – Christine Kirch, German astronomer (d. 1782)
Deaths
- April 30 – Robert Plot, English naturalist and chemist (born 1640)
- Jean Richer, French astronomer (born 1630)