1762 in science

The year 1762 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Biology

Charles Bonnet's Considerations sur les corps organisées is published in Amsterdam, synthesising current knowledge of cell biology and presenting his theory of palingenesis, intended to refute the theory of epigenesis.
Courses begin at the first veterinary school, established by Claude Bourgelat in Lyon.

September – Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships is established in London, pioneering mutual insurance using a method of actuarial science devised by mathematician James Dodson.{{cite web|url=http://www.equitable.co.uk/content/content_7.htm|title=Today & History|publisher=Equitable Life|date=2009-06-26|accessdate=2010-10-20|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629202114/http://www.equitable.co.uk/content/content_7.htm|archivedate=2009-06-29}}
Joseph-Louis Lagrange discovers the divergence theorem.In his 1762 paper on sound, Lagrange treats a special case of the theorem: Lagrange (1762) "Nouvelles recherches sur la nature et la propagation du son" (New researches on the nature and propagation of sound), Miscellanea Taurinensia (also known as: Mélanges de Turin ), 2: 11-172. This article is reprinted as: [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TA4DeQw1NoC&pg=PA151 "Nouvelles recherches sur la nature et la propagation du son"] in: Serret, J. A., ed., Oeuvres de Lagrange (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1867), 1: 151-316; [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TA4DeQw1NoC&pg=PA263 on pp. 263-265], Lagrange transforms triple integrals into double integrals using integration by parts.

Antoine Baumé publishes his textbook Éléments de pharmacie théorique et pratique in Paris.

Joseph Black first makes known his discoveries on latent heat, in Glasgow.{{cite ODNB|first=R. G. W.|last=Anderson|title=Black, Joseph (1728–1799)|year=2004|edition=Online|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2495|accessdate=2016-02-01|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/2495}}

Copley Medal: Not awarded{{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}}

February 20 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (born 1723)
March 21 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (born 1713)
June 13 – Dorothea Erxleben, German physician (born 1715)
July 10 – Jan Frederik Gronovius, Dutch botanist (born 1690)
July 13 – James Bradley, English Astronomer Royal (born 1693)
July 30 – William Braikenridge, English clergyman and geometer (born 1700){{cite web|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Braikenridge.html|title=William Braikenridge|last1=O'Connor|first1=John J.|first2=Edmund F.|last2=Robertson|authorlink2=Edmund F. Robertson|work=MacTutor History of Mathematics|accessdate=2012-01-24|date=November 1999|archive-date=2019-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827014808/http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Braikenridge.html|url-status=dead}}