Horror vacui (physics)

In physics horror vacui, or plenism, is a theory first proposed by Aristotle in the Fourth book of Physics (or Physica)^[1] that nature abhors a vacuum, and therefore empty space would always be trying to suck in gas or liquids to avoid being empty. The theory was widely accepted for a long time and supported by Galileo Galilei as resintenza del vacuo. Galilei was surprised by the fact that water could not raise above certain level in aspiration tube in his pump, leading him to conclude that there is a limit to the phenomena.^[2] His pupil Evangelista Torricelli stated in 1644 that the level of mercury in a closed tube was dependent on the pressure of surrounding air. In 1647 Blaise Pascal proved this notion in his famous vide dans le vide (“emptiness in emptiness”) experiment. The Magdeburg Hemispheres used by Otto von Guericke in 1650 were seen by some as proof that Aristotle's theory was not correct (see more on this topic in history of thermodynamics). For a scholarly discussion Leviathan and the Air-Pump, by Shapin and Schaffer 1985, is particularly instructive in the 17th century debate between Thomas Hobbes, supporting the plenum, and Robert Boyle's experimental demonstration of the vacuum.

See also

• Horror vacui in art

References

1. ^ Physica, Aristotle in the Fourth book of Physics
2. ^ René Dugas (1988). A history of mechanics. Courier Dover Publications. p. 144. ISBN 9780486656328. http://books.google.com/books?id=jmKxffjQtasC&pg=PA144. Retrieved 9 July 2011.