The year 1642 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Computing

• 19-year-old Blaise Pascal begins to develop the Pascaline, the first practical mechanical calculator, initially to help with the recording of taxes.^[1]

Exploration

• November 24 - Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer, is the first European known to sight Tasmania, which he names Anthoonij van Diemenslandt.^[2]
• December 13 - Tasman is the first European known to sight New Zealand.

Technology

• The printmaking process of mezzotint is developed by Ludwig von Siegen.

Births

• March (possible date) - Seki Takakazu, Japanese mathematician (d. 1708)
• December 25 (OS) - Isaac Newton, English polymath (d. 1727)

Deaths

• January 8 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer (b. 1564)

References

fr:1642 en science hu:1642 a tudom nyban mk:1642