The New (So-Called) Magdeburg Experiments of Otto Von Guericke

418 Pages·1994·9.693 MB·English

by  Otto Von Guericke (auth.)

THE NEW (SO-CALLED) MAGDEBURG EXPERIMENTS
OF OTTO VON GUERICKE
ARCHIVES INTERNATIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES
INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS
137
OTTO VON GUERICKE
THE NEW (SO-CALLED) MAGDEBURG EXPERIMENTS
OF OTTO VON GUERICKE
Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Washington University, St. Louis and UCLA)
Editorial Board: J.F. Battail (Paris); F. Duchesneau (Montreal); A. Gabbey (New York);
T. Gregory (Rome); S. Hutton (University of Hertfordshire); J.D. North (Groningen);
M.J. Petry (Rotterdam); J. Popkin (Lexington)
Advisory Editorial Board: J. Aubin (Paris); A. Crombie (Oxford); H. de la Fontaine
Verwey (Amsterdam); H. Gadamer (Heidelberg); H. Gouhier (Paris); K. Hanada (Hok
kaido University); W. Kusop (Melbourne); P.O. Kristeller (Columbia University); Elisab
eth Labrousse (Paris); A. Lossky (Los Angeles); J. Malarczyk (Lublin); E. de Olaso (C.LF.
Buenos Aires); J. Orcibal (Paris); Wolfgang Rod (Munchen); G. Rousseau (Los Angeles);
H. Rowen (Rutgers University, N.J.); J.P. Schobinger (Zurich); J. Tans (Groningen)
THE NEW (SO-CALLED)
MAGDEBURG EXPERIMENTS
OF OTIO VON GUERICKE
by
OTIO YON GUERICKE
Translation and Preface by
MARGARET GLOYER FOLEY AMES
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.Y.

OTTO GUERICKE
Dc
Sercni[s: PotentiG: :elector: Brandcb:
u
ConJiliarius " Civit.'l.t: ~1.8dcb.Con(ul:
THE NE'\oT ( S 0 - C A L"L ED) MAG nEB U R G
E X PER I MEN T S 0 F
OTT 0 VON G U E RIC K E
ONE M P T Y SPA C E
First published by the Reverend Father Kaspar Schott, S. J.
Professor of Mathematics at the University of lolurzburg
and in the present more complete edition by the author himself who
has included a number of additional experiments in the text.
At the same time certain other subjects have been added to this
edition concerning the Weight of Air around the Earth, the tfun
dane Virtues, the Planetary System as well as the Fixed Stars
and Immense Space which extends within as well as beyond them.
A M S T E R DAM
PRINTED BY JOHANNES JANSSON OF l-lAESBERG 1672
THROUGH THE PRIVILEGE OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
OTTONIS DE GUERICKE
EXPERIMENTA
Nova (utvocantur)
MAG DEBURGICA
VB
VACUO SPATIO
Primum a R. P. GaJPare'Schotto, e Societate
Jefu, & Herbipolitan<£ Academia! Mathefeos
Profdfore:
Nunc vero ab ipfo AuCl:ore
PeifeEtiits edita, varii/que aliis Experimentir
auRa.
Q!!ibus accdrcrunt fimul certa qua:dam
Ve Aeru Pondere circa 'Terram; de rjrtutibU4~undanu ,& SyJlc
mate Mundi Planetario; fieNt f!J de Stellil Fixls) ae Spatio illo Immel/fa, qllod lam
illlra qU41n extra eM funditur.
d M S .T E L 0 D d M J,
J
Apud Q ANN E M JAN S SON I U Ml W A E S B E 11. G E) ANNO I 67'l.
Cum PrivilegiD S. CiI!f. Majeflatis.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guerlcke, Otto von, 1602-1686.
[Experlmenta nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburglca de vacuo spatlo.
Engllshl
The new (so-called) Magdeburg experiments of Otto von Guerlcke !
translation and preface by Margaret Glover Foley Ames.
p. cm. (Archives Internationales d'hlstolre des Idees
137)
Translation of Experlmenta nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburglca de
vacuo spatlo.
Inc 1u des Index.
ISBN 978-94-010-4888-0 ISBN 978-94-011-2010-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-2010-4
1. Physlcal sclences--Early werks to 1800. 2, Astronomy--Early
werks ta 1800. 3. Pneumatics--'Early werks ta 1800. 4. Madgeburg
experiments. I. Ames, Margaret Glover Feley. II. Title.
III, Series.
Q155.G9313 1993
500--dc20 93-5121
ISBN 978-94-010-4888-0
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1994
No part of the material protected by this copyright notiee may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronie or mechanieal,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface xvii
Short Biography of O. von Guericke xxiii
BOOK I
THE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE MORE
COMMON PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES
Chapter 1. What the World Is, or What Is Usually Understood 1
by the Term, World
Chapter 2. The Motion of Stars, the Wanderers or Planets, as 5
well as the Stationary or Fixed Stars
Chapter 3. The Two Systems of the Ancients: That Based upon 7
the Presumed Inactivity of the Earth and That
Based upon Its Movement
Chapter 4. A Brief Resume of the System of the World Based 9
upon Ptolemy's Theory of the Immovability of the
Earth
Chapter 5. A Revised Pythagorean System of the World 12
Wherein, According to Copernicus, the Sun Is
Held To Be in Its Center
Chapter 6. The Daily and Annual Movement of the Earth 14
According to Copernicus
Chapter 7. Objections of the Astronomers and Natural 15
Philosophers to the Copernican System
Chapter 8. Objections to the Copernican Theory from the Sacred 17
Scriptures and their Refutations
Chapter 9. The World System According to Tycho Brahe, the 26
Noble Dane. He Assigns the Earth to the Center
of the World and the Sun to the Center of the
Planets Which Revolve around It (with the
Exception of the Moon)
Chapter 10. Another System Wherein the Earth Is Situated in the 29
Center of the World and Moves about Its own Axis
in the Space of Twenty-four Hours
Chapter 11. The Corrected and Improved Copernican Theory of 31
the World
Chapter 12. The Sun 31
ix
x Table of Contents
Chapter 13. The Sun Spots 32
Chapter 14. Mercury 34
Chapter 15. Venus 35
Chapter 16. The Earth and the Moon 36
Chapter 17. Mars 36
Chapter 18. Jupiter 39
Chapter 19. Saturn and Planets in General 40
Chapter 20. A General Discussion of the Distances of the Stars 41
Chapter 21. The Distance of the Moon from the Center of the 45
Earth
Chapter 22. The Size of the Moon 47
Chapter 23.· The Distance of the Sun from the Earth 48
Chapter 24. The Size of the Sun 52
Chapter 25. The Distances of the Planets from the Earth and 55
their Magnitudes
Chapter 26. The Height or Distance of the Fixed Stars from our 57
Earth, According to the Followers of Ptolemy and
Aristotle
Chapter 27. The Height or Distance of the Fixed Stars from the 59
Earth According to the Followers of Tycho
Chapter 28. The Distance of the Stars According to the Followers 61
of Pythagoras or Copernicus Who Locate the Sun
in the Center of the World
Chapter 29. The Number of Fixed Stars and the Revelations of 64
Telescopes in this Century as to their Great Extent
Chapter 30. The Magnitude of the Fixed Stars 66
Chapter 31. Heaven or the Heavens as well as the Atmosphere 68
and Celestial Matter
Chapter 32. The Firmament and the Waters above It, According 72
to the Sacred Scriptures
Chapter 33. The Empyrean Heaven 74
Chapter 34. Are there any other Worlds Beyond This of Ours, 77
and if there Are, Can They be Counted, or Are
They Uncountable?
Chapter 35. Imaginary Space Outside the World 78
BOOK II
EMPTY SPACE
Chapter 1. Why the Author Was Led to Investigate the Vacuum 83
Chapter 2. Space and Time 84
Chapter 3. Empty Space 86