Magdeburg hemispheres
Hemisferios de Magdeburgo
- Date
- 1654 · confidence high
- Place
- Regensburg (Imperial Diet) and Magdeburg, Germany
- Credited to
- Otto von Guericke
- People
- 👤 Otto von Guericke1602–1686
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
Two copper hemispheres held together solely by the vacuum inside them, which 16 horses could not pull apart before the Diet of Regensburg. A spectacular demonstration of the force of atmospheric pressure.
Published in Experimenta Nova (1672).
What it led to
- The popularisation of experimental science before princes and public audiences
- The idea of harnessing atmospheric pressure as a source of mechanical work
- Scientific demonstrations as a form of spectacle
Built on
Made possible
- Steam digester (pressure cooker)1679
- Savery steam pump1698
- Newcomen atmospheric engine1712
- Savery steam engine
- Suction cup and industrial vacuum