The year 1836 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed here.

Astronomy

• May 15 - Francis Baily, during an eclipse of the sun, observes the phenomenon named after him as Baily's beads.

Biology

• October 2 - Naturalist Charles Darwin returns to Falmouth, England aboard the HMS Beagle after a 5-year journey collecting biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
• Theodor Schwann discovers pepsin in extracts from the stomach lining; first isolation of an animal enzyme.

Chemistry

• French chemist Auguste Laurent discovers o-phthalic acid (1,2-benzenecarboxylic acid) by oxidizing naphthalene tetrachloride.
• The chemical compound acetylene, also called ethyne, was discovered by Edmund Davy.

Awards

• Copley Medal: Jons Jacob Berzelius; Francis Kiernan
• Wollaston Medal: Louis Agassiz

Births

• May 28 - Alexander Mitscherlich (d. 1918), chemist.
• Joseph Lockyear, astronomer.

Deaths

• June 10 - André-Marie Ampère (b. 1775), physicist.