English Barometers
OverviewIn an age when life itself depended on successful agriculture, sailing ships and horse-back or foot travel a knowledge of the weather was essential. Weather forecasting primarily relied on observation of the skies until circa 1645 when an Italian mathematician, Evangelista Toricelli (1609 to 1647), discovered the scientific principles that led to the mercurial barometer. By using a long, thin glass tube closed at one end, and with the open end placed [...] Click here to continue reading.