1550 in science

Medicine

• approx. date – Establishment of St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London.

  Technology

• Commencement of laying out of gardens at the Villa d'Este, Tivoli, Italy, for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este with sophisticated hydraulic features designed by Tommaso Chiruchi with Claude Venard.

  Publications

• Gerolamo Cardano publishes his comprehensive survey of the natural sciences, De subtilitate, in Nuremberg.
• Giovanni Battista Ramusio begins publication of Navigationi et Viaggi, a collection of explorers' first-hand accounts of their travels, the first work of its kind.

  Births

• September 30 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician
• John Napier, Scottish mathematician
• Anselmus de Boodt, Flemish mineralogist and physician
• Jacques Guillemeau, French surgeon
• Ferrante Imperato, Neapolitan natural historian
• approximate date
• * Willem Barentsz, Dutch explorer
• * Marin le Bourgeoys, French inventor and artist

  Deaths

• Sulaiman Al Mahri, Arab navigator