The year 1797 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Chemistry, Physics

Joseph Proust proposes the law of definite proportions, which states that elements always combine in small, whole number ratios to form compounds

Discovery of Beryllium and Chromium (Vauquelin)

Mathematics

Lagrange publishes his Théorie des fonctions analytiques.

Zoology

Thomas Bewick publishes the first volume of his History of British Birds.

Awards

Copley Medal: Not awarded

Births

January 14 - Wilhelm Beer, Prussian astronomer (d. 1850)
April 29 - George Don, Scottish botanist (d. 1856)

4 October 1797 Birth of Felix Savary in Paris, France
November 14 - Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist (d. 1875)
December 17 - Joseph Henry, American physicist (d. 1878)

Deaths

March 26 - James Hutton, Scottish geologist (b. 1726)
June 13 - Samuel-Auguste Tissot, Swiss physician (b. 1728)
August 29 - Joseph Wright, English painter of scientific subjects (b. 1734)