Evangelista Torricelli

Evangelista Torricelli (Known as "Inventor of the Mercury Barometer")

Physicist, Mathematician, Disciple of Galileo, Inventor of the Barometer

Born 15 October 1608

Rome (or Faenza), Italy

Passed Away 25 October 1647 Florence, Italy

Lifespan 39 years old

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Notice / Correction

"Noi viviamo sommersi nel fondo d'un pelago d'aria. (We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of air, which by unquestioned experiments is known to have weight.)"

Archival Overview

Italian physicist and disciple of Galileo who invented the mercury barometer, discovered Torricelli's Law of fluid efflux, and disproved nature's 'horror vacui' (horror of a vacuum).

Biographical Record

Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647) studied under Benedetto Castelli in Rome and lived with the blind, elderly Galileo at Arcetri during the master's final months. Succeeding Galileo as Court Mathematician to Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici, Torricelli tackled the ancient puzzle of why water suction pumps cannot lift water higher than 34 feet.

In 1643, using a glass tube sealed at one end and filled with heavy liquid mercury inverted in a dish, Torricelli invented the barometer. The mercury column consistently stood at 76 cm, leaving an empty space above: the 'Torricellian vacuum'. He famously realized that 'we live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of air'. In geometry, his infinite Gabriel's Horn (Torricelli's trumpet) had infinite surface area but finite volume.

Key Life Milestones

1643 CE

Invention of the Mercury Barometer

Constructed the mercury column tube demonstrating atmospheric pressure and the creation of a sustained vacuum.

1644 CE

Formulation of Torricelli's Law of Fluid Dynamics

Proved that the speed of liquid flowing through an orifice is proportional to the square root of fluid depth ($v = sqrt{2gh}$).

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Basilica of San Lorenzo (Torricelli Tomb)
Florence, Italy

                         GPS: 43.7747, 11.2536                    

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