title: 1762 in science
text: # 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.
  
  ## Mathematics
  
  * 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.
  * Joseph-Louis Lagrange discovers the divergence theorem.
  
  ## Pharmacology
  
  * Antoine Baumé publishes his textbook Éléments de pharmacie théorique et pratique in Paris.
  
  ## Physics
  
  * Joseph Black first makes known his discoveries on latent heat, in Glasgow.
  
  ## Awards
  
  * Copley Medal: Not awarded
  
  ## Births
  
  * April 10 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (died 1834)
  * November 20 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist (died 1833)
  
  ## Deaths
  
  * 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)
  