The 1730s: naming nature and keeping time at sea

In 1735, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus published Systema Naturae. He grouped plants and animals into a clear hierarchy and later popularised two-part Latin names, such as Homo sapiens. Scientists around the world still use his system.

The same year, the English clockmaker John Harrison completed H1, a large marine timekeeper designed to keep accurate time on a moving ship. Knowing the exact time at home and at sea lets sailors calculate longitude. Harrison spent decades improving his designs, and his later watch, H4, proved the method in the 1760s.

Weaving became faster. In 1733, John Kay patented the flying shuttle, which let one weaver do work that had needed two. It increased demand for yarn and pushed inventors to build better spinning machines.

In 1736, the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler solved the puzzle of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg, proving that no walk could cross each bridge exactly once. His solution founded graph theory, which today helps design networks, maps and computer systems.