1753 in science

The year 1753 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

Ruđer Bošković's De lunae atmosphaera demonstrates the lack of atmosphere on the Moon.{{cite book|title=Энциклопедия для детей (астрономия)|publisher=Аванта+|year=1998|location=Москва|isbn=978-5-89501-016-7}}

May 1 – Publication of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum, the start of formal scientific classification of plants.Date adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
June – Establishment in Florence of the Accademia dei Georgofili, the world's oldest society devoted to agronomy and scientific agriculture.

Claude François Geoffroy demonstrates that bismuth is distinct from lead and tin.{{cite journal|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3551g/f197.image.r=royal.langEN|title=Sur Bismuth|page=190|year=1753|journal=Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences|last=Geoffroy|first=C. F.|accessdate=2013-11-26}}{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/ed009p11|title=The discovery of the elements. II. Elements known to the alchemists|year=1932|last1=Weeks|first1=Mary Elvira|authorlink1=Mary Elvira Weeks|journal=Journal of Chemical Education|volume=9|issue=1 |page=11|bibcode=1932JChEd...9...11W}}{{cite book|first=C. R.|last=Hammond|page=[https://archive.org/details/crchandbookofche81lide/page/4 4-1]|chapter=The Elements|title=CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics|edition=81st|location=Boca Raton, FL|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=0-8493-0485-7|year=2004}}

January 1 – Retrospectively, the minimum date value for a datetime field in an SQL Server (up to version 2005) due to this being the first full year since Britain's adoption of the Gregorian calendar.

James Lind publishes the first edition of A Treatise on the Scurvy (although it is little noticed at this time).{{cite journal|last=Bartholemew|first=M.|title=James Lind and Scurvy: a revaluation|journal=Journal for Maritime Research|publisher=National Maritime Museum|date=January 2002|volume=4 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1080/21533369.2002.9668317 |s2cid=42109340 }}

November 25 – The Russian Academy of Sciences announces a competition among chemists and physicists to provide "the best explanation of the true causes of electricity including their theory"; the prize will be won in 1755 by Johann Euler.{{cite book|chapter=Hallerstein and Gruber's Scientific Heritage|first=Stanislav Joze|last=Juznic|title=The Circulation of Science and Technology: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science|publisher=Societat Catalana d'Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica|year=2012|page=358}}

February 17 – The concept of electrical telegraphy is first published in the form of a letter from 'C. M.' to The Scots' Magazine."An Expeditious Method of Conveying Intelligence". {{cite book|first=Anton A.|last=Huurdeman|title=The Worldwide History of Telecommunications|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2003|page=48}}
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod, to ring a bell when struck by lightning, following his 1752 kite and key tests.
George Semple uses hydraulic lime cement in rebuilding Essex Bridge in Dublin.{{cite book|title=A Treatise on Building in Water|first=George|last=Semple|location=Dublin|publisher=Husband|year=1776}}

Copley Medal: Benjamin Franklin{{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}}

March 26 – Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Anglo-American physicist (died 1814)
April 28 – Franz Karl Achard, chemist (died 1821)
August 3 – Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope, British statesman and scientist (died 1816)