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Mercury Barometer

Type Object Region Italy Time 1643–1670

An instrument measuring atmospheric pressure by the height of a mercury column in a sealed glass tube, confirmed by Torricelli's 1643 experiment;…

Timeline

  1. 1661–1665Europe · EuropeBoyle, successors of Pascal, and natural philosophers everywhere commonly assembled mercury barometers, verifying the effects of altitude and weather changes on the mercury column's height and establishing the concept of atmospheric pressure.
  2. 1666–1670Paris · Île-de-FranceInstitutions such as the French Academy of Sciences promoted the use of mercury barometers for systematic meteorological records; instrument structures tended toward portability and standardization, laying the foundation for later weather barometers and weather stations.

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