1688 in science

Astronomy

• The constellation Sceptrum Brandenburgicum is named by Gottfried Kirch.

  Exploration

• A French Jesuit scientific mission led by Jean de Fontaney arrives in China.

  Mathematics

• Simon de la Loubère introduces the Siamese method for constructing any size of n-odd magic square to Western Europe.

  Technology

• Earliest known mention of the balalaika.

  Births

• January 29 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist and theologian
• April 4 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer
• August 14 – Johann Leonhard Rost, German astronomer
• September 26 – Willem 's Gravesande, Dutch polymath
• November 15 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French Jesuit mathematician and physicist

  Deaths

• January 28 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit astronomer in China
• October 9 – Claude Perrault, French architect and physicist
• November 11 – Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, French horticulturalist