Francesco Lana de Terzi (Brescia, Lombardy ca. Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the 1631 – 22 February 1687) was an Italian Jesuit and aeronautics pioneer. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order He sketched a concept for an airship and the idea that developed into Braille. The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write
He was born in Brescia, Lombardy. Brescia ( Lombard: Brèsa) is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Lombardy (Lombardia Latin: Langobardia, Western Lombard: Lumbardìa, Eastern Lombard: Lombardia) is one of the
Airship design
In the year 1670 Francesco Lana de Terzi published a book titled Prodomo, including a chapter entitled saggio di alcune invenzioni nuove premesso all'arte maestra (“To test some premised new inventions of the master artist”) which contained the description of a “flying ship”. Encouraged by the experiments of Otto von Guericke with the Magdeburg hemispheres, in the year 1663 Lana de Terzi had developed an idea for a lighter than air vessel. Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke ˈgeːʁɪkə ( November 20, 1602 &ndash May 11, 1686 ( Julian calendar) The Magdeburg hemispheres were a pair of large copper hemispheres with mating rims Some Gases are buoyant in Air because they have densities lower than that of air (about 1
His airship design - while never having been built - had a central mast, to which a sail was attached. The airship would be steered like a sailboat. Its design called for four masts which had copper spheres attached. The spheres would be made of very thin copper foil, and each sphere would have a diameter of 7. 5 meters (about 24. 5 feet). Terzi had calculated that the weight of a sphere would be 180 kilograms (396 lb). He also calculated that a sphere containing air would weigh 290 kilograms (638 lb). The copper spheres would be pumped to vacuum conditions, and thus being lighter than the surrounding air, would provide enough lift for 6 passengers to ride along in the airship.
At the time no one possess the ability to manufacture such thin copper foil, besides, the pressure of the surrounding air would have flattened the spheres. Its idea was never practically tested. In addition, Francesco Lana de Terzi was conscious that one could use such a vehicle as a weapon of war and attack cities from air. He wrote: “God will never allow that such a machine be built…because everybody realises that no city would be safe from raids…".
The fact that such an airship with vacuum spheres was physically not possible wasn't proven until 1710 by Gottfried William Leibniz, and to this day such a vessel hasn't been built. A model of Lana de Terzi's invention is on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.. The Smithsonian Institution (smɪθsoʊnɪən is an educational and research institute and associated Museum complex administered and funded by the Government of The National Air and Space Museum (NASM of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington D Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D
