Magdeburg Hemispheres
date: label: date made
content: 1830
name: label: maker
content: Fortin et Herrmann
notes: label: Description
content: Otto Von Guericke (1602-1686), the scientifically-minded mayor of Magdeburg, demonstrated the effects of a vacuum and of atmospheric pressure by joining one hollow hemisphere with another, evacuating the air between the two, and showing how hard it then was to pull the two apart. In time, Magdeburg hemispheres became popular pieces of scientific apparatus. This example was purchased from Fortin & Herrmann in Paris, in 1830, for use at the U.S. Military Academy.
label: Description
content: Ref: Benjamin Pike, Jr. <i>Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of Optical, Mathematical, and Philosophical Instruments</i> (New York, 1856), vol. 1, p. 204
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.315742
label: catalog number
content: 315742
label: accession number
content: 217544
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Magdeburg hemispheres
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 31.3 cm x 13 cm x 13 cm; 12 5/16 in x 5 1/8 in x 5 1/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 1/4 in x 5 1/8 in; 31.115 cm x 13.0175 cm