Magdeburg Hemispheres
Magdeburg Hemispheres
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- Description
- Otto Von Guericke (1602-1686), the scientifically-minded mayor of Magdeburg, demonstrated the effects of a vacuum and of atmospheric pressure by joining one hollow hemisphere with another, evacuating the air between the two, and showing how hard it then was to pull the two apart. In time, Magdeburg hemispheres became popular pieces of scientific apparatus. This example was purchased from Fortin & Herrmann in Paris, in 1830, for the U.S. Military Academy.
- Ref: Benjamin Pike, Jr. Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical, and Philosophical Instruments (New York, 1856), vol. 1, p. 204
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- Magdeburg hemispheres
- date made
- 1830
- maker
- Fortin et Herrmann
- place made
- France: Île-de-France, Paris
- Measurements
- overall: 31.3 cm x 13 cm x 13 cm; 12 5/16 in x 5 1/8 in x 5 1/8 in
- overall: 12 1/4 in x 5 1/8 in; 31.115 cm x 13.0175 cm
- ID Number
- PH.315742
- catalog number
- 315742
- accession number
- 217544
- subject
- Science & Scientific Instruments
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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