How the Inquisition led to the Vacuum Pump: Weight of Air & How a Barometer Works
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Date: 2022-12-27
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Comments and reviews: 20
Miguel
In the year 1778 spanish admiral Luis de Cordova y Cordova, well into his 70's, as head of the spanish and french fleet, inflicted a great loss to the british, captured the 74 gun Ardent, and collapsed the stock and commerce in the British isles. When confronted by the french Count de Guichen as to why he would not finally invaded the country, one of the reasons he gave was that the weather was about to change for worse. Sure enough the weather did change and the french wondered how the spanish could make such forecasts. The secret was in the extremely sensitive onboard barometers they used, a top secret device in the day. They had begun to use them a few years before the XVIIIth century french-spanish alliance
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In the year 1778 spanish admiral Luis de Cordova y Cordova, well into his 70's, as head of the spanish and french fleet, inflicted a great loss to the british, captured the 74 gun Ardent, and collapsed the stock and commerce in the British isles. When confronted by the french Count de Guichen as to why he would not finally invaded the country, one of the reasons he gave was that the weather was about to change for worse. Sure enough the weather did change and the french wondered how the spanish could make such forecasts. The secret was in the extremely sensitive onboard barometers they used, a top secret device in the day. They had begun to use them a few years before the XVIIIth century french-spanish alliance
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Jim
If you look at a table of conductivities of the elements which are solid at room temperature, sulfur has the lowest electrical conductivity by far. I cant look it up right now, but I remember it as more than an order of magnitude lower than its nearest competitor. Maybe this would help it hold onto charge when mounted on a metal shaft because it couldnt leak away easily, and when the surface of the ball was rough, since charge couldnt migrate to points and discharge into the air. I bet the balls were stinky even though elemental sulfur is not, because being used in electricity experiments would generate sparks, and even tiny sparks would be enough to combust a tiny bit of sulfur to sulfur dioxide.
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If you look at a table of conductivities of the elements which are solid at room temperature, sulfur has the lowest electrical conductivity by far. I cant look it up right now, but I remember it as more than an order of magnitude lower than its nearest competitor. Maybe this would help it hold onto charge when mounted on a metal shaft because it couldnt leak away easily, and when the surface of the ball was rough, since charge couldnt migrate to points and discharge into the air. I bet the balls were stinky even though elemental sulfur is not, because being used in electricity experiments would generate sparks, and even tiny sparks would be enough to combust a tiny bit of sulfur to sulfur dioxide.
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Daemon
He wasn't the only one who drew a connection, real or not, between electricity and gravity. Faraday also thought as much as did many others. This theoretical force called gravity which cannot be measured in the same direct way electric or magnetic forces are. It is calculated based on density of an object and the gravitational constant for which Newton knew no mechanism for. And then Einstein made it a geometry of a 4D spacetime matrix. Still, not directly measurable. GC was the first God of Modernity as it is an anomaly without explanation and therefore just an effect.
I also love the quote, We live at the bottom of an ocean of air.
Of course I don't know what I am talking about. ;)
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He wasn't the only one who drew a connection, real or not, between electricity and gravity. Faraday also thought as much as did many others. This theoretical force called gravity which cannot be measured in the same direct way electric or magnetic forces are. It is calculated based on density of an object and the gravitational constant for which Newton knew no mechanism for. And then Einstein made it a geometry of a 4D spacetime matrix. Still, not directly measurable. GC was the first God of Modernity as it is an anomaly without explanation and therefore just an effect.
I also love the quote, We live at the bottom of an ocean of air.
Of course I don't know what I am talking about. ;)
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NO
Great great info Kathy, Id like to point out: solid sulfur barely smells, 2 solid sulfur is easily electrified by rubbing it with cloth ( think wool, 3 at that time there were not other easy obtainable matereial to electrify, could have been glass but to make a ball off glass was more difficult than making a ball of sulfur. may be wax would work but it melts as it is rubbed. wood, even is an isolator cant be electrified. should try wood covered with wax. and more solid resin ( wich petrified is ambar) was not esily found. bottom line: what an advanced idea to model world gravity with electrified sphere!
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Great great info Kathy, Id like to point out: solid sulfur barely smells, 2 solid sulfur is easily electrified by rubbing it with cloth ( think wool, 3 at that time there were not other easy obtainable matereial to electrify, could have been glass but to make a ball off glass was more difficult than making a ball of sulfur. may be wax would work but it melts as it is rubbed. wood, even is an isolator cant be electrified. should try wood covered with wax. and more solid resin ( wich petrified is ambar) was not esily found. bottom line: what an advanced idea to model world gravity with electrified sphere!
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Hopelessand
I wonder if Guericke was really capable of thinking that putting two teams of twelve horses each to pull in opposite directions would produce more force on the sphere than one team of twelve horses pulling on the sphere with the other end tied to a tree. When two teams pull against each other, the weaker team is pulled backwards along with the sphere as soon as the stronger team generates more force. Therefore, the force on the sphere cannot exceed the force developed by the weaker team.
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I wonder if Guericke was really capable of thinking that putting two teams of twelve horses each to pull in opposite directions would produce more force on the sphere than one team of twelve horses pulling on the sphere with the other end tied to a tree. When two teams pull against each other, the weaker team is pulled backwards along with the sphere as soon as the stronger team generates more force. Therefore, the force on the sphere cannot exceed the force developed by the weaker team.
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David
Scientism's endlessly repeated martyrology of Galileo makes me very tired. The story is much more complicated than they would like to have you believe. For one thing, the prediction of the planets' orbits using the Copernican system was not as accurate the current system's. We had to wait for Kepler to show that they were elliptical, not circular. And there were astronomers who were aware of this. Jesuits.
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Scientism's endlessly repeated martyrology of Galileo makes me very tired. The story is much more complicated than they would like to have you believe. For one thing, the prediction of the planets' orbits using the Copernican system was not as accurate the current system's. We had to wait for Kepler to show that they were elliptical, not circular. And there were astronomers who were aware of this. Jesuits.
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Daniel
Kathy! Recently discovered your fideos. I'm retirted after 40 years of teaching Chemistry and Physics, high school level. SULFUR, the yellow element has almost no detectible smell. Most of it's compounds are just the opposite. H2S. hydrogen sulfide is the rotten egg smell (and incidentally an order of magnitude more toxic than cyanide) SO2, sulfur dioxide is the burned match smell. etc
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Kathy! Recently discovered your fideos. I'm retirted after 40 years of teaching Chemistry and Physics, high school level. SULFUR, the yellow element has almost no detectible smell. Most of it's compounds are just the opposite. H2S. hydrogen sulfide is the rotten egg smell (and incidentally an order of magnitude more toxic than cyanide) SO2, sulfur dioxide is the burned match smell. etc
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Jethro
There used to be this show on public television when i was a kid called connections. Anybody remember that one? These videos remind me a lot of that show. The host would take a lot of seemingly random and unconnected historical events and concepts usually within a scientific framework and weave them together into a nice little package that was both entertaining and informative.
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There used to be this show on public television when i was a kid called connections. Anybody remember that one? These videos remind me a lot of that show. The host would take a lot of seemingly random and unconnected historical events and concepts usually within a scientific framework and weave them together into a nice little package that was both entertaining and informative.
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LadyAnuB
4+ years after the release of this video andNobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
I don't know if it's still there but at California State University East Bay in Hayward, CA there was an actual water barometer attached to the side of a building walkway. (I don't if it's still there as I found this during a fire alarm inspection I did on this campus years ago)
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4+ years after the release of this video andNobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
I don't know if it's still there but at California State University East Bay in Hayward, CA there was an actual water barometer attached to the side of a building walkway. (I don't if it's still there as I found this during a fire alarm inspection I did on this campus years ago)
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Ariel
I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS! I'm so glad I found your videos, Kathy. So far the only thing I could find like this was a book called Electrodynamics from Ampere to Einstein, but it didn't go in depth at the beginning like you do.
Edit: You WROTE A BOOK! This is a like miracle! Like an answered prayer! Yes!
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I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS! I'm so glad I found your videos, Kathy. So far the only thing I could find like this was a book called Electrodynamics from Ampere to Einstein, but it didn't go in depth at the beginning like you do.
Edit: You WROTE A BOOK! This is a like miracle! Like an answered prayer! Yes!
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Sr
The Parthenon is in Athens. This is the Pantheon.
Parthenon means The (temple) of the virgin (= the godess Athena parthenos)
Pantheon means The (temple) of all (pan) gods (theon)
Both in greek language. Yes roman aristocrats spoke greek.
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The Parthenon is in Athens. This is the Pantheon.
Parthenon means The (temple) of the virgin (= the godess Athena parthenos)
Pantheon means The (temple) of all (pan) gods (theon)
Both in greek language. Yes roman aristocrats spoke greek.
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Metu
Starting from the inquisition reminded me of the late science historian James Burke who wrote of just such odd connections in his book and endearing BBC series, Connections. Physics is filled with and I hope you narrate other such stories.
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Starting from the inquisition reminded me of the late science historian James Burke who wrote of just such odd connections in his book and endearing BBC series, Connections. Physics is filled with and I hope you narrate other such stories.
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Michael
I have to go halfway through this video. Kathy I haven't heard you mention what atmospheric pressure is on the human is there standing there in your backyard. I believe it's 14 plus PSI? Please advise. Nice job as always
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I have to go halfway through this video. Kathy I haven't heard you mention what atmospheric pressure is on the human is there standing there in your backyard. I believe it's 14 plus PSI? Please advise. Nice job as always
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Hisham
The reason why he used sulfur and mercury and you see all the famous scientists or philosophers following the same path, because they were mostly reading alchemy and hermetics and what they used to call 'old knowledge'
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The reason why he used sulfur and mercury and you see all the famous scientists or philosophers following the same path, because they were mostly reading alchemy and hermetics and what they used to call 'old knowledge'
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Andrey
Enjoy your videos. Correction is needed for this one. Sulfur does not smell like a rotten egg. It barely smells at all. What does smell like a rotten egg is a sulfur compound called hydrogen sulfide.
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Enjoy your videos. Correction is needed for this one. Sulfur does not smell like a rotten egg. It barely smells at all. What does smell like a rotten egg is a sulfur compound called hydrogen sulfide.
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Carlton
Enjoy your videos, you have a charming personality that suits the subject, and it makes me think of all the experiments we did at school, great times, thanks again please keep teaching reminding us.
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Enjoy your videos, you have a charming personality that suits the subject, and it makes me think of all the experiments we did at school, great times, thanks again please keep teaching reminding us.
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Ray
Great video as always.
Little imprecision: the building in Rome you show in the picture is the Pantheon, not the Parthenon. The latter is located in Greece.
Regards,
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Great video as always.
Little imprecision: the building in Rome you show in the picture is the Pantheon, not the Parthenon. The latter is located in Greece.
Regards,
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Crusty
Damn you, Kathy! Your videos always end unexpectedly with. and then. But that will be on the next episode of. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You are an evil diva, but I still love you!
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Damn you, Kathy! Your videos always end unexpectedly with. and then. But that will be on the next episode of. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You are an evil diva, but I still love you!
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Glenn
Love your videos! I hope you will NUMBER the videos so we can watch them in order or find them quickly. Keep it up, looking forward to your new book on Electricity.
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Love your videos! I hope you will NUMBER the videos so we can watch them in order or find them quickly. Keep it up, looking forward to your new book on Electricity.
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gpwgpw555
What do you think of Connections and other works by James Burke? Your videos would be better if you had his film budget. But they are still very good.
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What do you think of Connections and other works by James Burke? Your videos would be better if you had his film budget. But they are still very good.
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