Here, then, we have the first account of daily
change in
barometric pressure. Guericke, of note, had already deduced that it was the weight of the atmosphere that produced the perceived
nature abhors a vacuum phenomenon, and also stated that at a certain height upwards, where the earth’s atmosphere ends, that pure space would begin in the form of a complete vacuum. Here, however, we see him perplexed at the daily atmospheric variation.
Naming In 1663,
Robert Boyle, in his
New Experiments and Observations Touching the Cold, was using the term “barometer” in reference to “mercurial cylinder” measured up to 29 or 30 inches. [4]
In 1664,
Robert Hooke, in his letters to Mr. Beale, was using the term “baroscope”.
In 1665,
Henry Oldenburg, the publisher of the Royal Society transactions, printed the following note:
“Modern philosophers, to avoid circumlocutions, call that instrument, wherein a cylinder of quicksilver, of between 28 to 32 inches in altitude, is kept suspended after the manner of the Torricellian experiment, a ‘barometer’ or ‘baroscope’.”
— Henry Oldenburg (1665), “Article”, Philosophical Transactions, Feb 12 [4]
Signaling, to the effect, that barometer was slightly preferred over baroscope.