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Otto Gericke, Patricius, engraving by Anselmus von Hulle, (1601-1674)
Otto Gericke, Patricius, engraving by Anselmus von Hulle, (1601-1674)

Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke, pronounced [ˈgeːʁɪkə]) (November 20, 1602 – May 11, 1686 (Julian calendar); November 30, 1602 – May 21, 1686 (Gregorian calendar) was a German scientist, inventor, and politician. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Events 330 - Byzantium is renamed ''Nova Roma'' during a dedication ceremony but is more popularly referred to as Constantinople The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. His major scientific achievement was the establishment of the physics of vacuums. This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner.

Contents

Biography

Guericke was born to a patrician family of Magdeburg, Germany. Magdeburg ( Low Saxon: Meideborg ˈmaˑɪdebɔɐx the Capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. He served as the mayor of Magdeburg from 1646 to 1676. Magdeburg ( Low Saxon: Meideborg ˈmaˑɪdebɔɐx the Capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Air Pressure and the Vacuum

L'electrisée: an electrostatic device demonstrating "this virtue, almost magic,... called electric" (engraving, c. 1750)
L'electrisée: an electrostatic device demonstrating "this virtue, almost magic,. Electrostatics is the branch of Science that deals with the Phenomena arising from what seems to be stationary Electric charges Since Classical . . called electric" (engraving, c. 1750)

In 1650 he invented a vacuum pump consisting of a piston and an air gun cylinder with two-way flaps designed to pull air out of whatever vessel it was connected to, and used it to investigate the properties of the vacuum in many experiments. A vacuum pump is a device that removes gas molecules from a sealed volume in order to leave behind a partial Vacuum. Guericke demonstrated the force of air pressure with dramatic experiments. He had joined two copper hemispheres of 51 cm diameter (Magdeburg hemispheres) and pumped the air out of the enclosure. Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 The Magdeburg hemispheres were a pair of large copper hemispheres with mating rims Then he harnessed a team of eight horses to each hemisphere and showed that they were not able to separate the hemispheres. When air was again let into the enclosure, they were easily separated. He repeated this demonstration in 1663 at the court of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg in Berlin, using 24 horses. Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm February 16 1620 &ndash April 29 1688) was the Elector of Brandenburg and the

With his experiments Guericke disproved the hypothesis of "horror vacui", that nature abhors a vacuum, which for centuries was a problem for philosophers and scientists. In Philosophy the horror vacui stands for a theory initially proposed by Aristotle stating that nature “fears” empty space Guericke proved that substances were not pulled by a vacuum, but were pushed by the pressure of the surrounding fluids.

Other research

Guericke applied the barometer to weather prediction and thus prepared the way for meteorology. History The first barometer is thought to have been built unintentionally by Gasparo Berti, sometime between 1640 and 1643 Meteorology (from Greek grc μετέωρος metéōros, "high in the sky" and grc -λογία -logia) is the Interdisciplinary His later works focused on electricity, but little is preserved of his results. He invented the first electrostatic generator, the "Elektrisiermaschine", of which a vesion is illustrated in the engraving by Hubert-François Gravelot, ca 1750 (illustration, right). An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is a mechanical device that produces Static electricity, or electricity at High voltage Hubert-François Bourguignon called Gravelot ( 26 March 1699 — 20 April 1773) was a French engraver a famous book illustrator designer and drawing-master

Guericke died in Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg is named after him. The Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg was founded 1993, and is one of the youngest universities in Germany.

Literature

(All these books are in German)

External links

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