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The year 1779 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

  • March 23 – Edward Pigott discovers the Black Eye Galaxy (M64).
  • May 5 – The spiral galaxy M61 is discovered in the constellation Virgo by Barnabus Oriani.

Exploration

  • Horace-Bénédict de Saussure begins publication of Voyages dans les Alpes.

Mathematics

  • Étienne Bézout publishes Théorie générale des équations algébriques in Paris, containing original work on elimination theory.

Physics

  • Jean-Paul Marat publishes Découvertes de M. Marat sur le feu, l'électricité et la lumière (Discoveries of Mr Marat on Fire, Electricity and Light).

Technology

  • January 8 – Bryan Higgins is granted a British patent for hydraulic cement (stucco) for use as an exterior plaster.
  • May – Boulton and Watt's Smethwick Engine is brought into service for pumping on the Birmingham Canal Navigations; two centuries later it will become the oldest working steam engine in the world.
  • James Pickard first applies a crank and flywheel to a Newcomen atmospheric engine to produce circular motion.
  • The Iron Bridge is erected across the River Severn in Shropshire, England; the first all-cast-iron bridge ever built. It will open to traffic on January 1, 1781.
  • The spinning mule is perfected by the Lancashire inventor Samuel Crompton.