1732 in science

The year 1732 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Chemistry

Herman Boerhaave publishes the authorized edition of his Elementa chemiae in Leiden.

March 3 – English Captain Charles Gough rediscovers Gough Island in the South Atlantic.Gough's log is preserved in the East India Collection at the British Library; the entry for this date is printed in {{cite book|last=Wright|first=Gabriel|title=A new nautical directory for the East-India and China navigation|date=1804|publisher=W. Gilbert|oclc=680511332|page=394}} See also {{cite journal|last1=Heaney|first1=J. B.|last2=Holdgate|first2=M. W.|year=1957|title=The Gough Island Scientific Survey|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=123|jstor=1790718|pages=20–31|doi=10.2307/1790719}}
August – Mikhail Gvozdev with navigator Ivan Fyodorov in the Sviatoi Gavriil make the first known crossing of the Bering Strait, from Cape Dezhnev to Cape Prince of Wales, and explore the Alaskan coast.{{cite web|title=Иван Федоров и Михаил Гвоздев|work=Иван Федоров и Михаил Гвоздев|url=http://www.ivki.ru/kapustin/person/fedorov/fedorov.htm|access-date=2012-04-16|archive-date=2017-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618211020/http://www.ivki.ru/kapustin/person/fedorov/fedorov.htm|url-status=dead}}

French astronomer in Russian service Joseph-Nicolas Delisle invents the Delisle scale for measuring temperature (recalibrated in 1738).

Henri Pitot develops the Pitot tube used for measuring flow velocity under the Seine bridges.
The world's first lightship is moored at the Nore in the Thames Estuary of England.{{cite web|url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.64/chapterId/1506/Trinity-House.html|title=Trinity House – Lightvessels|work=PortCities London|accessdate=2013-10-15}}

Copley Medal: Stephen Gray{{cite web |title=Copley Medal {{!}} British scientific award |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Copley-Medal |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |accessdate=21 July 2020 |language=en}}