Experiment by Auzout
Jean Pecquet, Experimenta nova anatomica, Paris1661

Born in Rouen, in France, he carried out research mainly in the fields of pneumatics and astronomy, working together with other outstanding figures of the French scientific scene of the period, such as Gilles de Roberval and Jean Picard. In 1666 he was admitted to the Académie des Sciences in Paris, but he resigned after only two years, in 1668. He moved to Rome, where he stayed almost continuously until his death in 1691.
Auzout made original contributions to the techniques of telescopic observation in astronomy, perfecting especially the use of the micrometer. His skill as an experimenter and instrument maker allowed him to carry out, in the Autumn of 1647, an experiment in which he showed, by placing a barometric tube within a void, that the mercury did not remain at the same level, but completely descended into the vessel below. The ingenious project of creating a "void within a void" showed, incontestably, the role of the pressure of air in the barometric experiment.

[ Next | Previous | The main characters | Index | Italiano ]