See also: 1760 in science, other events of 1761, 1762 in science and the list of years in science.
Astronomy June 6 - The first transit of Venus since Edmond Halley suggested that its observation could determine the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Joseph-Nicolas Delisle sets up a 62 station network for observing the transit. Those taking part include Nathaniel Bliss at Royal Greenwich Observatory, Joseph de Lalande in Paris, Tobias Mayer in Göttingen, Cesar Cassini de Thury in Vienna, Nevil Maskelyne in St Helena, Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason in South Africa, John Winthrop in Newfoundland, Alexandre-Gui Pingré in Rodrigues and Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche in Siberia. For various reasons the data obtained is unsatisfactory, and plans begin to observe the next transit in 1769 Mikhail Lomonosov also observes the transit of Venus and finds the first evidence that the planet has an atmosphere Awards Copley Medal: not awarded Births January 17 - James Hall, geologist and physicist (died 1832) June 7 - John Rennie, civil engineer (died 1821) November 30 - Smithson Tennant, chemist (died 1815) December 21 - Jean-Louis Pons, astronomer (died 1831) Deaths April 7 - Thomas Bayes, mathematician (born c. 1702)
