1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, I 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: have to swear to you up front that I am 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 1: not vacuum obsessed. Well I didn't think you were, so 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 1: it's okay, But it might seem like that because vacuums 7 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: are coming up again. It was a total accident, though. 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: But what we are talking about today is a seventeenth 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: century Italian gentleman who successfully created a vacuum in a lab. 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: In this case, we're talking about a real vacuum, not 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: a vacuum cleaner, yes, which, as we discussed in the 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:47,279 Speaker 1: Vacuum Cleaner episode, does not not a real vacuum vacuum yeah. Uh. 13 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: And the person we're talking about today is Evangelista Torricelli, 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: and he was born in the middle of a really 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: heavy few decades when the lives and work of people 16 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: like Galileo and Johannes Kepler and reneed de Carte and 17 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: Blaze Pascal and i Zac Newton. We're all changing human 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: kinds understanding of the world in the heavens. So sometimes 19 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: Toricelli gets lost in the mix, but he has actually 20 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: connected to Galileo and he made his own significant contributions 21 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: to science and mathematics. So that is who we're going 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: to talk about today. Evangelista Torricelli was born on October 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: eight and finds the Italy that's in the Romagna region, 24 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: and today this region is called Amelia Romagna. It's got 25 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: a pretty similar footprint to the area when Toricelli was born, 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: find says about thirty one miles or fifty kilometers southeast 27 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: of Bologna. His parents were gas Bar and Katerina and Jetti. 28 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: Toricelli and gas Bar worked in textiles. He made a 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: pretty meager living for the family in that industry, and 30 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: that eventually included two more children after Evangelista. Because Evangelista 31 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: was quite smart at a very early age, he was 32 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: sent to live with his uncle brother Jacopo, who was 33 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: a Kama Delis monk, and through that uncle Toricelli received 34 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: early education and then was enrolled in a Jesuit college 35 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: in sixteen four at the age of sixteen. There is 36 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: some debate over whether he was enrolled in a school 37 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: in Rome or in Fienza, but he did end up 38 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: in Rome, which might have been right after his schooling 39 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: was completed by the end of sixteen six though, not 40 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: only was Evangelista in Rome, but his mother was also. 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: His father had died at some point before that, so 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: she and her eldest son were both there in the 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: city at the same time until Katerina died in sixteen 44 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 1: forty one. Eventually, his two younger brothers moved there as well, 45 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: and there's been some supposition that maybe they all moved 46 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: there together to be with Evangelista after Gaspar's death. None 47 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: of this is really documented one way or the other, though, Yeah, 48 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: there are a lot of like that would make sense 49 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: about his personal life story that we just don't really know. 50 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: But Torricelli was born right in the middle of Galileo's lifetime, 51 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: and the work of the older scholar was very highly 52 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: influential on Evangelista, and he was eventually able to connect 53 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: with the man that he's so admired thanks to his 54 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: association with another great mind of seventeenth century Italy. Through 55 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: his uncle, Torricelli was connected to Benedetto Castelli. Castelli, like 56 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: Evangelista's uncle, had lived in a monastery. He had changed 57 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: his first name from Antonio to Benedetto when he entered 58 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: the Benedictine Order in the fifteen nineties, Castelli had helped 59 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: get discourse on floating Bodies by Galileo published and had 60 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: gained the position of professor of mathematics at the University 61 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: of Pisa in sixteen thirteen. He had been recommended for 62 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: that position by Galileo. In sixteen twenty six, he moved 63 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: to Rome and he started teaching at the University of Sapienza, 64 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: and that's where his story meant. Richeli's meet up. Evangelista's 65 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: uncle arranged for Castelli to keep Toricelli's education going in 66 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: mathematics and astronomy and physics, and an exchange. Toricelli worked 67 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: as castelli secretary and assistant, helping with experiments, taking notes 68 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: things like that. As Castelli and Galileo corresponded with some regularity, 69 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: Toricelli finally got a chance to connect with his idol 70 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: when Galileo sent a letter to Castelli in sixteen thirty one, 71 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: and that was at a time that Castelli was traveling 72 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: as his secretary. Toricelli took advantage of the opportunity that 73 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: presented itself and he wrote back to Galileo in a 74 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: letter dated September eleven, sixty two. This letter that he 75 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: wrote back, it's definitely more than kind of a Hey, 76 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: my boss is out, but I'll let him know that 77 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: you got in touch. Uh. It went way beyond that 78 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: type of a communication. Toricelli introduced himself. He talked about 79 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: his own work and his interests, and about the mathematicians 80 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: that he had studied, and he said that he believed 81 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: in the idea of helio Centrism as Copernicus had laid 82 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: it out. He also told Galileo that he had read 83 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: and studied Galileo's own work. This letter is really where 84 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: the small amount that we know about Toricelli's early life 85 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: comes from. He told Galileo about studying with the Jesuits 86 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: before becoming Castelli's student and secretary. He also let Galileo 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: know that Castelli had been working in the intellectual and 88 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: religious circles of Rome to try to make sure that 89 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: Galileo was not condemned for his recent work Dialogue concerning 90 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: the Two Chief World Systems. Yeah, that was a bit 91 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: controversial because even though Copernicus had died at this point 92 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: more than a hundred years earlier, his ideas still garnered 93 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: a lot of ire, and that played out right in 94 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: front of Toricelli. Galileo himself was put on trial in 95 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty three, not long after Toricelli sent that letter, 96 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: for countering the Catholic Church's insistence that the Earth was 97 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: the center of the universe. The Diogolo, as the recent 98 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: controversial work by Galileo was known in shorthand in Italy, 99 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: was outlawed. He was found to be heretical in his views, 100 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: and he was sentenced to imprisonment. That imprisonment, which we 101 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: will mention again in just a bit, was commuted to 102 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: isolation at home. Evangelista not only followed this trial due 103 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: to his own interest, but also at the request of Castelli, 104 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: who was still away from Rome himself, and he wanted 105 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: regular updates on how the trial was going from his student. 106 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: So it's not really surprising that even though Copernican concepts 107 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: were ceaselessly fascinating to Tori Chelly, he opted to focus 108 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: on the much safer field of mathematics after watching Galileo's 109 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: trial for defending the ideas of the long dead philosopher. 110 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: We don't know very much about Toricelli's personal life at all. 111 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: Over the next several years, but we do know that 112 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: he worked for Giovanni Campolly that was an other friend 113 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: of Galileo's. Campelli was a priest who had been instrumental 114 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: in getting Galileo's controversial work published. He had lost his 115 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: position in Rome for taking part in this whole heresy. 116 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: He was exiled from Rome and served as governor of 117 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: various locations around Italy, and we know that Toricelli accompanied 118 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: him to at least one of those posts, which was 119 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: Montalto deli Marche. And during this period we also know 120 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: that Toricelli was working on a number of ideas which 121 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: would eventually be published, but not until the mid sixteen forties. 122 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: One segment of that book that would eventually happen was 123 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: titled Demotu gravim. You'll also see it just as demotu 124 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: that translates to of motion or motion of weight. And 125 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: this was a treatise on mechanics that Toricelli was inspired 126 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: to write after reading and studying the works of Galileo 127 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: on the matter, specifically the parabolic motion of projectiles, and 128 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: it got the famed philosopher and astronomer's attention. But this 129 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: was once again through Toricelli's association with Castelli. When meeting 130 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: with Castelli later in sixteen forty one, Evangelista showed his 131 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: teacher and mentor this treatise, and Castelli was impressed enough 132 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: that he wrote to Galileo about it. That letter was 133 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: dated March second, sixteen forty one. Castelli tells Galileo that 134 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: he will quote bring him a book written by a 135 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: disciple of mine who has demonstrated many of those propositions 136 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: demo to which your lordship had already demonstrated, but differently 137 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: constructing marvelously on the same material. And that kind of 138 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: becomes really the thing that you'll hear echoed throughout the 139 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: rest of this as how Torricelli's work went. He was 140 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: usually working on something at Galileo had been working on, 141 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: and then kind of just shifted it and took his 142 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: own approach to it. But Castelli brought a copy of 143 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: this writing to Galileo during an approved visit to our 144 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: Chetree in Florence, where Galileo was living out his house arrest. 145 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: And at this point Galileo was im poor health and 146 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: his eyesight was failing, and as a way to ensure 147 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: that the work that the master was doing was not lost. 148 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: Castelli suggested that Galileo should have someone to assist him, 149 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: and as a consequence of that discussion and this paper, 150 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: Toricelli was invited by Galileo his idol, to move to 151 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: Florence and work alongside him. We'll talk about what happened 152 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 1: after that invitation after we paused for a quick sponsor break. 153 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: We mentioned right before the break that Toricelli was invited 154 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: by Galileo to work with him. This, of course is like, 155 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: you know, the dream job. But Toricelli only got to 156 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: work with his idol for a few months, in part 157 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: because it took a long time and some wavering actually 158 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: to accept this offer. First, Toricelli was teaching Castelli's classes 159 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: while Castelli was away from Rome, and he was adamant 160 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: that he could not leave until his mentor's return. And 161 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: then Toricelli's mother died, which kept him from Florence even longer. 162 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: But he also may have actually been a little bit 163 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: hesitant to throw in his lot with a man who 164 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: was living under house arrest for heresy. In September of 165 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: that year, Galileo wrote a letter to Toricelli that sounds 166 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: sort of resigned that this young man is never coming, 167 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: in which he tells this younger man that he regrets 168 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: that he will not ever be able to give him 169 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: his praise in person. Galileo really lays it on pretty 170 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: thick in this letter. Here is part of it quote, 171 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: I was looking forward to paying this duty and debt 172 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: to you in person, living in the hope that I 173 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: might have this pleasure for some days before my life, 174 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 1: already close to the end, should be over. And a 175 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: most loving letter of yours, your lordship, gave me no 176 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: small hope that this desire of mine might be fulfilled. 177 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: But I detect no hint of confirmation in your last letter. Rather, 178 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: from what I under stand from your other letter, written 179 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: to the most Reverend Father Castelli and sent to me opened, 180 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: I have very little or nothing left alive in this 181 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: hope of mine. I don't want to have to try 182 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: to hold back those good encounters and events that must 183 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: justly happen to one of your valor, so far elevated 184 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: above the common sciences. But I will tell you with 185 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: sincere affection that the merit of your peregrine mind might 186 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: also be recognized here, and my low hovel might not 187 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: be a less comfortable abode for you than some of 188 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: the most sumptuous, because I am sure that you will 189 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: not find the affection of the host more fervent in 190 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: any other place than in my breast. And I know 191 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: well that to true virtue, this is more pleasing than 192 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: any other comfort. I feel like this is the master 193 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: document that every manipulative relative has ever sent another, Like 194 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: it's okay that you don't want to visit a dying 195 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: and I don't. I'm so old, and I love you 196 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: so much, but you know, I understand you have a 197 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 1: life to live. I love it so much. And uh. 198 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 1: This was a very effective move because Evangelista left for 199 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: Florence just a few days after he got this letter, 200 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: and he finally got to our chetree in early October 201 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: sixty one. But Galileo died on January a, sixty two, 202 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,439 Speaker 1: so not long after Tori Shelly joined him, so this 203 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: loss was probably a huge disappointment. He really did not 204 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: get to spend a lot of time with his mentor, 205 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: but this also worked out well for Toricelli's career. He 206 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: was named Galileo's successor at the Florentine Academy as a 207 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: professor of mathematics. He was also made court mathematician to 208 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: Tuscany's Grand Duke Fernando the Second. He held that title 209 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life, and yes, for the 210 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,400 Speaker 1: people doing the timeline map, that does mean that he 211 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: spent the rest of his life in the service of 212 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: the medic Cheese. Prior to these positions being offered, Toricelli 213 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: had been planning to go back to Rome, but he 214 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: ended up staying in Florence permanently. He had a stable 215 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: income and time to focus, so this started a very 216 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: productive phase of his life. In sixteen forty four, Toricelli 217 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: was still working on some of those ideas that he 218 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: and Galileo had discussed, and one of those ended up 219 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: making him famous. That was an experiment with mercury, but 220 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,440 Speaker 1: it was catalyzed by a real world problem that Galileo 221 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: had been working on near the end of his life. 222 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: So the story goes that well, diggers in Tuscany were 223 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: having a problem and they turned to the greatest mind 224 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: of the time for help, and that problem was that 225 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: they were attempting to raise water with lift pumps, but 226 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: found that they were only able to raise it to 227 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 1: a certain point about ten meters if they attempted to 228 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: raise the water any higher than that it fell away 229 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: from the pump plunger. I remember watching basically this demonstration 230 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: on Mr Wizard's World. Yes, whether that specific tale of 231 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: the pumps coming to Galileo's attention is really true, Sometimes 232 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: it's attributed as being relaid through Fernando the Second. He 233 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: was definitely working with pumps and water and discovering that 234 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: he could only lift water so high. He wrote of 235 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: his experiments quote, when I first noticed this phenomenon, I 236 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: thought the machine was out of order. But the workman 237 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: whom I had called into apparent told me the defect 238 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: was not in the pump, but in the water, which 239 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 1: had fallen too low to be raised through such a height. 240 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: And he added that it was not possible, either by 241 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: pump or by any other machine working on the principle 242 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: of attraction, to lift water a hair's breadth above eighteen cubits, 243 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,480 Speaker 1: whether the pump be large or small, this is the 244 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: extreme limit of the lift. So Galileo had some theories 245 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: about this matter, as he would when he attacked any 246 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: kind of problem. And he also, you know, add some 247 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: some knowledge and theories about the field of hydrostatics. And 248 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: he was of course, as we always talk about incorporating 249 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: and building on the work done by other writers and thinkers, 250 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: including Flemish scientists and mathematicians Stephanus, who had gained an 251 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: understanding of fluid dynamics in his work on waterways in 252 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: the Netherlands. But even though he was reading as much 253 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: as he could about it, and you know, putting forth 254 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: as many ideas and trying to work it out, Galileo 255 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: died before he could solve this pump problem. He had 256 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: kind of been on the wrong track. Actually, he was 257 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: focusing on the weight of the water and was comparing 258 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: that to a rope being pulled so hard in both 259 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: directions that it snapped. Tortelli's experiment was carried out by 260 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,280 Speaker 1: his assistant, Vincenzo Viviani, and it used a long glass tube. 261 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: It was four ft or one point two meters long 262 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: and less than an inch or two point five four 263 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: centimeters in diameter. He filled it up with mercury, and 264 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: when he inverted it, he placed the open end into 265 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: a container that also contained mercury. When he did this, 266 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: some of the mercury flowed out of the tube, but 267 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: a lot of it did not. According to Tory, Chellis measurements. 268 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: Seventy six centimeters of the tube was still filled with mercury, 269 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: and this empty space at the closed end of the tube, 270 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: which was pointing upward, that was a vacuum. This was 271 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: the first time that a vacuum had been purposely created 272 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: in a lab, and this phenomenon is known today as 273 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 1: a tory Chellian vacuum. So keep in mind this entire 274 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: experiment was something of a marvel just in terms of 275 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: like materials logistics. A meter long glass tube was not 276 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: super easy to come by or work with. Its fragility 277 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: was a concern, particularly when filling it with mercury, and 278 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: he actually came up with two different shapes on the 279 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: end because he wanted to show that the shape of 280 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: the tube was not what was causing this whole thing 281 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: to work. We would also be very concerned today about 282 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: the danger inherent in the mercury, but that was not Yeah, 283 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: there are lots of write ups where it's like, yeah, 284 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: this it just put his finger over the end and 285 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: flipped it over and then took his finger out once 286 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: it was in the container of mercury, and I'm like, 287 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: what that's trip? Do we know what happened? To Vincenzo. 288 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: So this experiment continued from there because as Toricelli observed 289 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: the tube and the container of mercury, he noticed that 290 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: the height of the mercury and the tube changed from 291 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: day to day. He eventually worked out that this shift 292 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 1: came from changes in atmospheric pressure, which were affecting both 293 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 1: the surface of the mercury and the open container and 294 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: the contents of the tube. But Toricelli never published any 295 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: of this work. This is kind of the inverse of 296 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: another story that we've talked about on the show that 297 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: involved Toricelli's mentor Galileo, as you may recall from our 298 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: Thomas Harriet episode from Harriet, was the first to observed 299 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: the Moon through a telescope, but he didn't publish his findings. 300 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,440 Speaker 1: Galileo did the same thing several months later, did published, 301 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: and so he was credited with that achievement of having 302 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: looked at the Moon through a telescope first for centuries. 303 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: He got that credit. Tor Charlie's lack of motivation to 304 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: publish regarding this experiment is not really a reflection of 305 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: how important it was. In some ways, it's indicative of 306 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: that fact and his knowledge that it was going to 307 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 1: create a lot of contention. The concept of vacuum had 308 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: been debated at this point for centuries. The phrase horror vacue, 309 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: which we know more commonly in English as nature of 310 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: horrors a vacuum, that's attributed to Aristotle. He was one 311 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,880 Speaker 1: of the many scientists and philosophers throughout history who believed 312 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: that vacuums could not happen in nature. So, as an 313 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: aside that is unrelated to this topic, but just in 314 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: case you have run into that term before, horror vacuee 315 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: is also used to describe the visual art concept that 316 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: humans fear empty space. That is obviously different than what 317 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: we're talking about here, even though the roots of it 318 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: are similar. The idea of vacuum was not just one 319 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: that people disbelieved. There had been heated arguments over it 320 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: since Aristotle, effectively separating the world of thinkers into two camps. 321 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: Aristotle's idea was that a void would just automatically be 322 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: filled because it was a void, but Galileo sought to 323 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,040 Speaker 1: understand the mechanics that were at play. The concept of 324 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: equilibrium was already established in terms of a fluid flowing 325 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: from one vessel to a connected vessel until the two 326 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: achieved a state of rest. But this concept of a 327 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: vacuum creating section was one that Galileo was puzzling out 328 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: to him, the fact that you could lift water in 329 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: a well up to a certain point but no further 330 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 1: indicated that there was a more specific mechanism to it 331 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: than Aristotle's thoughts about voids just being automatically filled. Yes, 332 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,159 Speaker 1: it'll just feel, it will just fill, which is a 333 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: fun and simple way to think about it, but not 334 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: quite um and Torricelli was developing that experiment with the 335 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: mercury in a tube because he had come to understand 336 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: the effects of pressure that were in play. He was 337 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: not surprised by the behavior of the mercury. He had 338 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: understood that air in the atmosphere had weight and that 339 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: created pressure at the Earth's surface, and he knew that 340 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: because mercury had greater density than water, he could do 341 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: this experiment at a reduced scale without having to find 342 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: a way to flip something ten or more meters tall 343 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: filled with water. Incidentally, there was another mathematician working on 344 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,880 Speaker 1: a similar effort to produce a vacuum based on Galileo's writings, 345 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 1: Gas Borrow Bertie of Padua had started working on it 346 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: before Torricelli had. That was when Galileo was still alive, 347 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: but he had also died not long afterward. Bertie's version 348 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: of this attempted a more close replication of the whole 349 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: well water problem using water and a ten meter lead tube, 350 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: but because of his death, his experiment was not written 351 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: about until several years after Evangelista Toricelli's. So we're going 352 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: to talk more about Toricelli's desire to keep his work 353 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: on this particular problem out of the spotlight. But first 354 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: we will hear from the sponsors that keep stuff you 355 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:20,760 Speaker 1: missed in history class going. There are a couple of 356 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: letters from Toricelli's life that really make it apparent that 357 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: while other mathematicians and philosophers were locked in this battle 358 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: about whether or not a vacuum could truly be created 359 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: and what that meant for the state of human understanding 360 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: and even religion, Toricelli wanted nothing to do with that conflict. 361 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: His writings to a colleague about his mercury experiment just 362 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: describe what he did, and then he simply writes quote. 363 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: Many have said that the vacuum does not exist, others 364 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 1: that it can exist. But only with difficulty and against 365 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:58,679 Speaker 1: the repugnance of nature. Undoubtedly, seeing Galileo's trial in his 366 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: early career made him very wary of waiting into dangerous 367 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: waters in terms of ideologies. But he was also very 368 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: poetic in describing his realization about barometric pressure, writing to 369 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: his friend, quote, we live submerged at the bottom of 370 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: an ocean of the element air, which by unquestioned experiments, 371 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: is known to have weight. Because of Tory, chellis understanding 372 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: that the pressure of the atmosphere changed the level of mercury. 373 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: In this column, he's credited with developing the first barometer. 374 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: The Greek word viros means weight, which is where the 375 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: barometer got its name. It references the weight of the atmosphere. 376 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,120 Speaker 1: All of his thoughts on the matter, as we know them, 377 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: are contained in two letters. Both were written in June 378 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: of sixty four to Michelangelo Ritchie, who was a cardinal 379 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: in the Catholic Church and also a mathematician. Richie's response 380 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: letter included the hope that his friend Evangelista wouldn't be 381 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: quote too disgusted by the bold opinions of the theologians 382 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: and their habit of bringing odd into discussions. Of natural 383 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: science an area that they should treat with greater respect. Yeah, 384 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: I find it fascinating as a whole side thing about 385 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: how many mathematicians were also um in positions as religious leaders. 386 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,199 Speaker 1: And really there were a number of them trying to 387 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: keep it separate and be like, no, no, we could 388 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: talk about the math in a pure sense and not 389 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: involve theology. Uh. And I'm sure that had to have 390 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: been a very difficult line to walk, But eventually word 391 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 1: did get out, pursuably Reachie spilled the beans somewhere, and 392 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: other scientists tried this experiment as well, including Blaize Pascal. 393 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: They all had the same results as Toricelli. This was 394 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: a moment not to be underestimated in its impact in 395 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: terms of, you know, the timeline of science, because through 396 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: this experiment, which was easily repeatable, that belief stated by 397 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 1: Aristotle and held up as truth for almost two thousand 398 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: years at that point the vacuums were not part of 399 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: the natural world was suddenly disproven. When you consider that, 400 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: it is no wonder that Toricelli did not want to 401 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: get involved in the fallout. One of the other well 402 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: known projects that Evangelista Toricelli worked on during this period 403 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: was a calculation of the area of space created by 404 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: a cycloid curve. That's a repeating curve traced by a 405 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line. Toricelli, 406 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: as many other mathematicians had dried before him, worked on 407 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: figuring out the area that one rotation created when it 408 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: was bound by the straight line that the circle was 409 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: rolling along. This was something that Galileo had worked on 410 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,000 Speaker 1: as well. He had in mind that it could be 411 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: applied to the arches of a bridge, and he received 412 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: correspondence from Renee de Cartes and Pierre de Fermatt on 413 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: this matter. They all struggled with this, but Torichelli figured 414 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: it out after finding a solution in Galileo's papers that 415 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: the mathematician had sent several years before Galileo's death that 416 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: was in sight, and he worked from that. Another of 417 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: Galileo's concepts that Toricelli continued to work on after Galileo 418 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: died was the science of motion that Galileo wrote about 419 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 1: in Two New Sciences, though he also knew that it 420 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: wasn't received by all of the intellectuals of the day 421 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: with favor. This includes the parabolic motion of projectiles that 422 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,959 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, which inspired Castelli to suggest Evangelista as 423 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 1: Galileo's assistant, and the approach that Toricelli took in these 424 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: ideas was kind of unique and one which he was 425 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 1: aware of. Again, he's trying to avoid problems, writing in 426 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: a letter to a friend quote many times to avoid controversies. 427 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: I have deliberately protested repeatedly and clearly in my books 428 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: on motion that I write for philosophers rather than bombardiers, 429 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: meaning that he really preferred to think about these concepts 430 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: in the abstract, to keep the mind constantly considering possibilities 431 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: rather than attempting literal proofs and probably causing an argument. 432 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: Even so, despite that fact, he did always include data 433 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: that he acquired from real world tests and observations. In 434 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: sixteen forty four, Toricelli published Opera Geometrical, which covered his 435 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: work and projectile motion and fluid motion, as well as 436 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: his work in geometry. The solution to the cycloid curve 437 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: problem was included in this work yep, but not that 438 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: mercury experiment. As Toricelli's work was discussed by other mathematicians 439 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: of the day, including the unpublished work on creating a vacuum. 440 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: It became especially popular among French thinkers, and this was 441 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: bolstered to some degree by an experiment in which two 442 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: identical mercury tubes were set up as described by Toricelli, 443 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: were assembled at the base of pre de Dome, a 444 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: volcanic lava dome in central France. One barometer was kept 445 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,199 Speaker 1: at the base of the dome and the other was 446 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: carefully carried up this surface. As the altitude in rest 447 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: and thus the atmospheric pressure changed, the level of the 448 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: mercury change. And this experiment was something of a revelation, 449 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,120 Speaker 1: and it gave French scientists a chance to start applying 450 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: data to this entire concept, because they were measuring the 451 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: height that the device had been carried to against the 452 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: level of the mercury and started creating like, uh, you know, 453 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,919 Speaker 1: a little charred and table of numbers about it. But 454 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: while his findings were shared and discussed throughout France, Evangelisa 455 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: discovered that there were problems and your work becoming so 456 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: well known that really had nothing to do with the 457 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,919 Speaker 1: dogmatic debates that he had been really carefully sidestepping up 458 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: to this point. As his work became more popular, there 459 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: was suddenly a rush of claims that other scientists had 460 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,760 Speaker 1: already done some of the experiments that he had, or 461 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: had already figured out some of the calculations that he 462 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: had developed in Italy. This led Toricelli to grow progressively 463 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: more concerned that others may actually argue over arbitration of 464 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: his work and might claim that that work he had 465 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: done was actually their own. He made a plan to 466 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: combat this issue. He was going to publish a volume 467 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: of letters that he had exchanged with scientists and mathematicians 468 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,400 Speaker 1: in France, essentially publishing dated proof that he had introduced 469 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,679 Speaker 1: the ideas to the French. But this effort fell short 470 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: because Tori Kelly simply ran out of time. Tori Telly 471 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 1: died in Florence, Italy, on August seven. It's not clear 472 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,440 Speaker 1: what he died from. There are references to him having 473 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:32,440 Speaker 1: some sort of disease, but there's really not anything more 474 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: specific than that. As he neared the last hours of 475 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: his life, he gave his remaining unpublished work to a 476 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,719 Speaker 1: friend to be produced for the public. But even with 477 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: other colleagues promising to help in that effort, it's sputtered out. 478 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: None of his contemporaries got his work into print. Yeah, 479 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: he was just thirty nine when he died, and because 480 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,479 Speaker 1: he never published his work on his mercury experiments, the 481 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 1: images that we have, like the drawings of what that were, 482 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: which are engravings of his device, are from after his death. 483 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: The first time an image of his mercury tube appeared 484 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: in print was not until sixteen sixty seven. The most 485 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: commonly seen image of a Toricellian tube is from two 486 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: hundred years later, when it appeared in the eighteen sixty 487 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: seven book Les mala Sis that's the Marvels of Science, 488 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: and that was by French scientists Louis Figier. And that work, 489 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: incidentally does also feature a plate of Duke Fernando the 490 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: second questioning Galileo about the function of water pumps on 491 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: his land. So that may be the source of where 492 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: that story comes from the Duke rather than Galileo just 493 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: thinking about this problem on his own. Over time, some 494 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: of his work was lost. It was in the early 495 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 1: twentieth century that the surviving work was published over four 496 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: volumes as Alperity Evangelista Torricelli. That was a project initiated 497 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: by his hometown of Fianza. That's how had already erected 498 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: a statue up Torricelli all the way back in eighteen 499 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: sixty four to commemorate his life. Yeah, he's their hometown hero. 500 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,400 Speaker 1: UM one of those people that you think about again. 501 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: We've discussed many times, like great, great thinkers and geniuses 502 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: who die very young and who probably would have done 503 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: a lot more if they had not. Yeah, to keep 504 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: things going with what appears to be some sort of 505 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: vacuum obsession that I claim I don't have. UM, I 506 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: do have a listener mail about our Vacuum Cleaner episode. 507 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: This is from our listener Allison, who writes, Hi, Ali 508 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,720 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I have been a devoted listener since I 509 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: look forward to all your episodes. Recently, we were on 510 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: a two week trip out west, visiting family and seeing 511 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: amazing sights. All that to say, I am catching up 512 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: on your podcast and just finished your July fifth podcast 513 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: about the vacuum. To say I was excited is an understatement. 514 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: I grew up and live in North Canton, Ohio, where 515 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: the Hoover vacuum was made. In fact, they lived just 516 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,480 Speaker 1: down the street from the house where it was initially made. 517 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,320 Speaker 1: It is a cute little museum now. As a child 518 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: many of my friends parents worked in the factory as 519 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: engineers or manufacturers. Our identity as a town was deeply 520 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: connected to being the home of the Hoover company. The 521 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,840 Speaker 1: plant is a pretty red brick building in the center 522 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: of town, and as a child I remember driving by 523 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: and looking in the windows to watch the vacuums being made. 524 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: I even had a tour of the factory and elementary school. Sadly, 525 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: today the original plant sits empty, waiting for the company 526 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: who bought it to renovate it. That's a long story. 527 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: Our town is still vibrant and a great place to live, 528 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: and we are proud of our history. Thank you for 529 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: all your hard work and fantastic episodes. I know you 530 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,920 Speaker 1: like pictures of pets, but to my children's disappointment, we 531 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,720 Speaker 1: do not have any. I wanted to include a picture 532 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: of us petting wild burrows in South Dakota and the 533 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: bison from Yellowstone, but I'm not sure how to do 534 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: it since I already started this email on my phone. 535 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: Being my forties and working with technology makes me feel old. 536 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: Have a great day, Allison, Alison, this is delightful. Um. 537 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,320 Speaker 1: It is interesting, right there are so many towns that 538 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: we think about in the US certainly that are associated 539 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: with a particular industry or manufacturer, and that really does 540 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 1: become the town's identity in many ways. But of course, 541 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: as evidenced by Allison's notes, sometimes that gets uh, you know, 542 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: kind of uh takes a gut punch from companies buying 543 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: each other and you know, corporate movements. So but I 544 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: would love to see something like that restored and made 545 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 1: into a giant museum, because I want everything to be 546 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: made into a giant museum. So thank you for writing us. 547 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: If you would like to, you can also do that 548 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: at History podcast at i heeart radio dot com. You 549 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: can also find us on social media as Missed in History, 550 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: and if you would like to subscribe to the show, 551 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: you can do that in the I heart Radio app 552 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you 553 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,480 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I Heart Radio. 554 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,719 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 555 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or We're at or you listen 556 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. H