1617 in science
The year 1617 in science and technology involved some significant events.Astronomy
- Johannes Kepler begins to publish his Epitome astronomiæ Copernicanæ setting out his theory of elliptic orbits.
Mathematics
- Napier’s Bones, a multiplication device invented by John Napier, is described in his Rabdologiæ, published in Edinburgh.
- Henry Briggs publishes Logarithmorum Chilias Prima, a modification of Napier's logarithms into common logarithms.
Medicine
- The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is granted a royal charter, separating it from the Grocers.
Births
- July 13 – Ralph Cudworth, Cambridge Platonist.
Deaths
- January 29 – William Butler, Irish alchemist .
- February 6 – Prospero Alpini, Italian physician and botanist.
- February 11 – Giovanni Antonio Magini, Italian astronomer.
- April 4 – John Napier of Merchiston, mathematician.
- May 7 – David Fabricius, Frisian astronomer.
- December – William Butler, English physician.
