Philosophy
Somewhat of a mystery man: No record of his birth date or place or how old he was when he died on May 12th, 1684.
Bill Ashworth wrote in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter...
He "...just suddenly shows up in the historical record as a member of the newly founded Academie des Sciences in Paris in 1666. He made his initial mark with a theory that sap circulates in plants just like blood does in animals, and with a bombshell discovery--the eye has a blind spot! He demonstrated this by putting two spots on a wall, one about two feet to the right of the other, and a little below, and showing that when you covered your left eye and backed up to about nine feet, the right spot suddenly disappears. But his most important work was in experimental mechanics. Whereas predecessors like Descartes had wondered what happens when a large object, moving at a certain speed, collides with a smaller object, moving at a different speed, and came to conclusions based on how nature ought to operate, Mariotte asked the same questions experimentally. He made pendulum bobs out of clay and let them collide, seeing how the degree of flattening varied with speed. He would drop ivory balls onto a steel anvil covered with talc, and see how the impact pattern varied with the height of fall (and demonstrating, in the process, that even a hard ivory ball is compressed on impact). In a eulogy published after his death, Mariotte was called “the man who introduced experimental physics to France.” Mariotte also discovered that when air is compressed, the volume decreases in proportion to the increase in pressure. English-speaking countries refer to this as Boyle's law; in France, it is known as 'Mariotte's law.'"
Edmé Mariotte [Wikipedia]
Boyle's Law [Wikipedia]
- Rip Peter Boyle
Fellow comedists, I speak to you in mourning today for we have lost a giant...a big, green giant and I'm not talking Hans Delbruck. Peter Boyle was a fantastic actor. His work in Joe and The Candidate were magnificent. But today he sits with Saint...
- James Dewar...the "thermos" Man
James Dewar September 20th, 1842 to March 27th, 1923 In 1878, liquid air obtained at a temperature of -192ºC was exhibited by Professor James Dewar at the Royal Institution, London. His work followed the small-scale production of liquid air by Raoul...
- Augustin-jean Fresnel And Optics
Augustin-Jean Fresnel May 10th, 1788 to July 14th, 1827 Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter wrote... Augustin-Jean Fresnel, a French physicist and mathematician, was born May 10, 1788. Fresnel's name is well-known to physicists because...
- Vincenzo Viviani...secretary To Galileo And The Viviani Theorem
Vincenzo Viviani April 5th, 1622 to September 22nd, 1703 Can't let the day fade without the mention of Vincenzo Viviani born on this date in 1622. Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter wrote... When just a lad of 16, Viviani so impressed...
- The Glass Jar That Delivered A Jolt
Electrical Sportsman A polychromed, hand-painted model of a hunter resting on a walnut base measuring 13" x 4" with a Leyden jar and pith birds (missing.) This electrostatic demonstration apparatus was sold by many different manufacturers of philosophical...
Philosophy
Edmé Mariotte...Boyle's Law/Mariotte's Law
Somewhat of a mystery man: No record of his birth date or place or how old he was when he died on May 12th, 1684.
Bill Ashworth wrote in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter...
He "...just suddenly shows up in the historical record as a member of the newly founded Academie des Sciences in Paris in 1666. He made his initial mark with a theory that sap circulates in plants just like blood does in animals, and with a bombshell discovery--the eye has a blind spot! He demonstrated this by putting two spots on a wall, one about two feet to the right of the other, and a little below, and showing that when you covered your left eye and backed up to about nine feet, the right spot suddenly disappears. But his most important work was in experimental mechanics. Whereas predecessors like Descartes had wondered what happens when a large object, moving at a certain speed, collides with a smaller object, moving at a different speed, and came to conclusions based on how nature ought to operate, Mariotte asked the same questions experimentally. He made pendulum bobs out of clay and let them collide, seeing how the degree of flattening varied with speed. He would drop ivory balls onto a steel anvil covered with talc, and see how the impact pattern varied with the height of fall (and demonstrating, in the process, that even a hard ivory ball is compressed on impact). In a eulogy published after his death, Mariotte was called “the man who introduced experimental physics to France.” Mariotte also discovered that when air is compressed, the volume decreases in proportion to the increase in pressure. English-speaking countries refer to this as Boyle's law; in France, it is known as 'Mariotte's law.'"
Edmé Mariotte [Wikipedia]
Boyle's Law [Wikipedia]
- Rip Peter Boyle
Fellow comedists, I speak to you in mourning today for we have lost a giant...a big, green giant and I'm not talking Hans Delbruck. Peter Boyle was a fantastic actor. His work in Joe and The Candidate were magnificent. But today he sits with Saint...
- James Dewar...the "thermos" Man
James Dewar September 20th, 1842 to March 27th, 1923 In 1878, liquid air obtained at a temperature of -192ºC was exhibited by Professor James Dewar at the Royal Institution, London. His work followed the small-scale production of liquid air by Raoul...
- Augustin-jean Fresnel And Optics
Augustin-Jean Fresnel May 10th, 1788 to July 14th, 1827 Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter wrote... Augustin-Jean Fresnel, a French physicist and mathematician, was born May 10, 1788. Fresnel's name is well-known to physicists because...
- Vincenzo Viviani...secretary To Galileo And The Viviani Theorem
Vincenzo Viviani April 5th, 1622 to September 22nd, 1703 Can't let the day fade without the mention of Vincenzo Viviani born on this date in 1622. Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter wrote... When just a lad of 16, Viviani so impressed...
- The Glass Jar That Delivered A Jolt
Electrical Sportsman A polychromed, hand-painted model of a hunter resting on a walnut base measuring 13" x 4" with a Leyden jar and pith birds (missing.) This electrostatic demonstration apparatus was sold by many different manufacturers of philosophical...