The year 1696 in science and technology involved some significant events.

History of science

• Daniel Le Clerc publishes Histoire de la médecine in Geneva, the first comprehensive work on the subject.^[1]

Mathematics

• Guillaume de l'Hôpital publishes Analyse des Infiniment Petits pour l'Intelligence des Lignes Courbes, the first textbook on differential calculus,^[2] including a statement of his rule for the computation of certain limits.
• Jakob Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli solve the brachistochrone curve problem, the first result in the calculus of variations.

Births

• unknown date – Christine Kirch, German astronomer (d. 1782)

Deaths

• April 30 – Robert Plot, English naturalist and chemist (born 1640)
• Jean Richer, French astronomer (born 1630)