Editing 1800s (decade) (section)

==Science and technology==

===Electricity===
{{See also|History of electromagnetism|History of electrochemistry}}
[[Image:VoltaBattery.JPG|thumb|upright|A voltaic pile on display in the [[Alessandro Volta#Honours|Tempio Voltiano]].]]
This decade contained some of the earliest experiments in [[electrochemistry]]. In 1800 [[Alessandro Volta]] constructed a [[voltaic pile]], the first device to produce a large electric current, later known as the [[electric battery]]. [[Napoleon]], informed of his works, summoned him in 1801 for a command performance of his experiments. He received many medals and decorations, including the [[Légion d'honneur]].

Also in [[1800]], [[William Nicholson (chemist)|William Nicholson]] and [[Johann Wilhelm Ritter]] succeeded in decomposing water into [[hydrogen]] and [[oxygen]] by [[electrolysis]]. Soon thereafter Ritter discovered the process of [[electroplating]]. He also observed that the amount of metal deposited and the amount of oxygen produced during an electrolytic process depended on the distance between the [[electrode]]s. By 1801 Ritter observed [[thermoelectricity|thermoelectric currents]] and anticipated the discovery of thermoelectricity by [[Thomas Johann Seebeck]].

In [[1806]], [[Humphry Davy]] decomposed potash and soda, employing a voltaic pile of approximately 250 cells, showing that these substances were respectively the oxides of potassium and sodium, which metals previously had been unknown. Employing a battery of 2,000 elements of a voltaic pile and charcoal enclosed in a vacuum, Davy gave the first public demonstration of the electric [[arc lamp]] in 1809.<ref name="EncyclopediaAmericana">Maver, William Jr.: "Electricity, its History and Progress", [https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaame21unkngoog#page/n210/mode/1up The Encyclopedia Americana; a library of universal knowledge, vol. X, pp.&nbsp;172ff]. (1918). New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corp.</ref>

[[Image:Trevithicks Dampfwagen.jpg|thumb|left|The ''[[London Steam Carriage]]'']]

Steam transportation started to become viable during this decade. In 1803, [[William Symington]]'s ''[[Charlotte Dundas]]'', generally considered to be the world's first practical [[steamboat]], made her first voyage. Later, in 1807, [[Robert Fulton]]'s ''[[North River Steamboat]]'', the world's first commercially successful steamboat, made her maiden voyage.

In [[1801]], [[Richard Trevithick]] ran a full-sized steam '[[Traction engine#Road locomotive|road locomotive]]' on the road in [[Camborne|Camborne, England]],<ref name="buchanan">{{cite book
|author=C.D. Buchanan
|title=Mixed Blessing: The Motor in Britain
|url=https://archive.org/details/mixedblessingmot0000buch
|url-access=registration
|publisher=Leonard Hill
|year=1958
|chapter=1
}}</ref> followed by his 10-seater [[London Steam Carriage]] in 1803.<ref name="buchanan"/> In [[1804]], Trevithick built a prototype steam-powered [[railway locomotive]].

The first railway began operating during this time. The [[Surrey Iron Railway]] in Great Britain was established by the British Parliament in 1801,<ref>Introduction to ''Rail 150: The Stockton and Darlington Railway and what followed'' by [[Jack Simmons (historian)|Jack Simmons]], publ. 1975 by Methuen</ref> and began operation on 26 July 1803. The railway relied on horse-drawn haulage than powered locomotives.

In [[1807]], [[Isaac de Rivas]] made a [[hydrogen]] gas-powered vehicle, the first vehicle powered by an [[internal combustion engine]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Eckermann|first=Erik|title=World History of the Automobile|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLZeQwqNmdgC&q=%22François+Isaac+de+Rivaz%22&pg=PA18|publisher=Society of Automotive Engineers|location=Warrendale, PA|year=2001|isbn=0-7680-0800-X}}</ref>
James Watt creates first steam engine based on Newcomen's design.

===Astronomy===
* The first known [[asteroids]] are discovered in this decade:
** [[Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres]] (1 January 1801).<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Hoskin |year=1999 |title=The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy |publisher=Cambridge University press |isbn=978-0-521-57600-0 |pages=160–161 }}</ref> Ceres is reclassified as a [[dwarf planet]] in 2006.
** [[2 Pallas|Pallas]] (28 March 1802)
** [[3 Juno|Juno]] (1 September 1804)
** [[4 Vesta|Vesta]] (29 March 1807)

===Other advances===
* The [[Jacquard loom]] is invented in 1801.
* [[Ultraviolet|Ultraviolet radiation]] is discovered by [[Johann Wilhelm Ritter]] in 1801.
* [[Flag semaphore]] is gradually adopted by various [[navy|navies]] of the world.
* [[Morphine]] is isolated from [[opium]] for the first time in 1804.
* [[Nicolas Appert]] develops a method to preserve food by means of [[canning]] in 1809.
* [[John Dalton]] publishes his atomic theory 1803.