1654 in science
The year 1654 in science and technology involved some significant events.Astronomy
- Sicilian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna publishes De systemate orbis cometici, deque admirandis coeli characteribus including a catalog of comets and nebulae.
Mathematics
- At the prompting of the Chevalier de Méré, Blaise Pascal corresponds with Pierre de Fermat on gambling problems, from which is born the theory of probability.
Physics
- May 8 – Otto von Guericke demonstrates the effectiveness of his vacuum pump and the power of atmospheric pressure using the Magdeburg hemispheres before Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, in Regensburg.
Births
- December 27 – Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician.
- John Banister, English missionary and botanist.
- prob. date – Eleanor Glanville, English entomologist.
Deaths
- August 31 – Ole Worm, Danish physician and antiquary
- October 18 – Nicholas Culpeper, English herbalist
- Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni, Italian military engineer and astronomer
