The Discoveryof Boyk's Law, and the Concept of the Elasticity of Air in Seventeenth Century C. WEBSTER CommuniCated by J. RAVETZ IV. V. VI. VII. VII!. IX. Contents Page I. Introduction ............ ~ ..... .... ..... ". 44t II. Philosophical Background: The Early Experiments Concerning Vacua . . 442 IlI. The Torrice!lian Experiment and Its Conflicting Interpretations in France, ' 1645--t648 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446 The "Elater" of Air: Jean Pecquet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45t The Introduction of Experiments on Air Pressure into England . : . . • 454 Henry 'Power's Experiments of t653 • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 Boyle's First Researches on Air Pressure: The Pneumatic Engine .... 464 Power and Towneley: The Direct Measurement of the Elasticity of Air . 470 Power and Towneley: Their Relationship with Boyle and the Royal Society 479 X. Boyle's Experiments on the Compression and Dilation of Air ...... 484 Conclusions .... ..... " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Appendix I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 Appendix II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497 AppendixlII . . . . . . . . . . . - ....... ...... .... ". 499 Appendix IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 Appendix V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50t I. Introduction The events which led to the formulation of BOYLE'S Law have been described frequently in histories of science, and the revolutionary features Of the Law have caused its widespread use a~ an example in discussions about the nature of laws in Science. However, there are notable deficiencies in our knowledge of certain aspects of the background to BoYLE's work, and it is too readily assumed that ]3OYLE'S~ ~nterpretati0n oi the Law was similar to the twentieth-century view. It has long been realised that the foundation for BOYLE'S work was laid by the experiments on air pressure which are popularly connected with TOI~RICELLI and PASCAL. Their work has been discussed in detail during the present century, and it is now realised that the c0ncept of air pressure was of interest to many French and Italian natural philosophers in the mid-seventeenth century. PASCAL and TORRICELLI are consequently regarded as the major contributors to a CO- Arch. Hist. Exact Sci,, Vol. ~ 30
The Discovery of Boyk's Law, and the Concept of the Elasticity of Air in Seventeenth Century
Jul 05, 2023
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