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The year 1608 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Technology
- October 2 – Hans Lippershey demonstrates the first known telescope to the government of the Dutch Republic.
- The flintlock muzzleloader is invented; unlike most weapon systems which only lasted a few decades, the flintlock has a long-term impact.
- The manufacture of alum is invented and successfully practised in England, under the patronage of King James, by Lord Sheffield.
Zoology
- Edward Topsell's bestiary The Historie of Serpents is published in London by William Jaggard.
Births
- January 28 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian scientist (died 1679)
- August 4 – John Tradescant the younger, English botanist (died 1662)
- October 15 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist and mathematician (died 1647)
Deaths
- December – Oswald Croll, German chemist and physician (born c1560)