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Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke) (born November 20, 1602 in Magdeburg, Germany, died November 11, 1686 in Hamburg, Germany, both dates according to the Julian calendar, according to the Gregorian calendar they are November 30 and November 21) was a German scientist, inventor, and politician (mayor of Magdeburg from 1646 to 1676).
His major scientific achievement was the establishment of the physics of vacuums. He invented the piston air pump to produce a vacuum and investigated the properties of the vacuum in many experiments.
He demonstrated the force of air pressure with dramatic experiments, e.g. in 1663Events July 8 Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. July 27 The British Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English at the court of Friedrich Wilhelm I of BrandenburgFriedrich Wilhelm Frederick William of Brandenburg, Kurfurst of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia ( February 16, 1620 April 29, 1688) of the House of Hohenzollern, was the Kurfurst (elector) of Brandenburg, from 1640 until his death. He is known as the Grosser. Guericke had joined two copperCopper is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. Notable characteristics Copper is a reddish-coloured metal, with a high electrical and thermal conductivity (among pure metals at room temperature, only silver hemispheres of 51 cm diameter ( Magdeburg hemispheresThe Magdeburg hemispheres were one of Otto von Guericke's most interesting experiments. They were two hollow hemispheres a little over a foot in diameter which fitted together so well that the air could be pumped out from between them. The pressure of the) and pumped the air out of the enclosure. Then he harnessed a team of eight horses to each hemisphere and showed that they were not able to separate the hemispheres. When air was again let into the enclosure, they were easily separated. He repeated this demonstration in BerlinBerlin [ bɛrˈliːn ] is the national capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,387,404 inhabitants (as of September 2004); down from 4. 5 million before World War II. Berlin is located on the rivers Spree and Havel in the northea in 1663Events July 8 Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island. July 27 The British Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English with 24 horses.
With his experiments Guericke disproved the hypothesis of " horror vacui", that nature abhors a vacuum, that for centuries was a problem for philosophers and scientists. Guericke proved that substances were not pulled by a vacuum, but were pushed by the pressure of the surrounding fluids.
Guericke applied the barometer to weather prediction and thus prepared the way for meteorology.
His later works focussed on electricity, but little is preserved of his results. He invented the first electrostatic generator, the .
The University in Magdeburg is named after him ().