1811 in science

	1802; 1803; 1804; 1805; 1806; 1807; ; 1808; 1809; 1810; 1811; 1812; 1813; 1814; ; 1815; 1816; 1817; 1818; 1819; 1820;
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy;

The year 1811 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

Astronomy

Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger publishes Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium, an updating of Linnean taxonomy and a major influence on the concept of the 'Family' in biology. He first defines the infraclass Marsupialia.
Peter Simon Pallas begins publication of Zoographia rosso-Asiatica, sistens omnium animalium in extenso Imperio rossico, et adjacentibus maribus observatorum recensionem, domicilia, mores et descriptiones, anatomen atque icones plurimorum in Saint Petersburg.

Bernard Courtois discovers iodine.^[1]
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard publish Recherches Physico-Chimiques, faites sur la pile; sur la préparation chimique et les propriétés du potassium et du sodium; sur la décomposition de l'acide boracique; sur les acides fluorique, muriatique et muriatique oxigéné; sur l'action chimique de la lumière; sur l'analyse végétale et animale, etc. in Paris.
Amedeo Avogadro proposes Avogadro's law, that equal volumes of gases under constant temperature and pressure contain equal number of molecules.^[2]

June 10 – A volcanic eruption, observed from British sloop HMS Sabrina (1806), briefly creates Sabrina Island (Azores).

Charles Bell publishes An Idea of a New Anatomy of the Brain,^[4] starting to distinguish between sensory and motor nerves.
Abraham Colles publishes A Treatise on Surgical Anatomy in Dublin.
Francis Place publishes Illustrations and Proofs of the Principles of Population, including an examination of the proposed remedies of Mr. Malthus, and a reply to the objections of Mr. Godwin and others in London, the first significant text in English to advocate contraception.^[5]

Amedeo Avogadro proposes his hypothesis relating volumes and numbers of molecules of gases.

Friedrich Koenig, with the assistance of Andreas Friedrich Bauer, produces the first steam printing press, in London.^[6]

March 2 – Hugh Edwin Strickland, English geologist and ornithologist (died 1853)
March 11
- Lady Katherine Sophia Kane née Baily, Irish botanist (died 1886)
- Urbain Le Verrier, French astronomer (died 1877)
March 30 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist (died 1899)
July 13 – James Young, Scottish chemist (died 1883)
September 14 – William Budd, English physician and epidemiologist (died 1880)
October 25 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician (died 1832)
John Waterston, Scottish physicist and civil engineer (died 1883)

^ Swain, Patricia A. (2005). "Bernard Courtois (1777–1838), famed for discovering iodine (1811), and his life in Paris from 1798" (PDF). Bulletin for the History of Chemistry. 30: 103–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
^ "Michael Faraday". Famous Physicists and Astronomers. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
^ Crilly, Tony (2007). 50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-84724-008-8.
^ Bell, C; Shaw, A (1868). "Reprint of the "Idea of a New Anatomy of the Brain," with Letters, &c". J Anat Physiol. 3: 147–82. PMC 1318665. PMID 17230788.
^ "Francis Place". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 2007-08-06. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
^ Patented in 1810. Meggs, Philip B. (1998). A History of Graphic Design. Wiley. pp. 130–133. ISBN 0-471-29198-6.
^ "Copley Medal | British scientific award". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.