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    • Gallery of the 1924 painted dome icons
  • Interviews
    • Interviews with scientists about science since 1924
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  • ABACUS
  • ACADÉMIE DES SCIENCES, PARIS
  • ACCADEMIA DEI LINCEI, ROME
  • AIR
  • AIR PUMP
  • ANTHROPOLOGY
  • ANTIQUE RETORT
  • ASTRONOMY
  • BELLOWS
  • BOTANY
  • CANDLE
  • CHEMISTRY
  • MAGNETIC COMPASS
  • DAGUERRE'S CAMERA
  • EARTH
  • FIRE
  • GALILEO'S TELESCOPE
  • GAS, LIQUID AND ICE
  • GEOLOGY
  • GEOLOGIC HAMMER AND CHISEL
  • INNER INSCRIPTION
  • KILN
  • LAVOISIER'S FLASK TO WEIGH AIR
  • LEVEL WITH PENDULUM BOB
  • ELECTRO-MAGNET
  • MATHEMATICS
  • MODERN MAN
  • MUSEUM OF ALEXANDRIA
  • NEWTON'S PRISM
  • OUTER INSCRIPTION
  • PEA PODS
  • PHAROS
  • PHYSICS
  • PLANET & STARS
  • EARTH (B)
  • JUPITER
  • MARS
  • MERCURY
  • NEPTUNE
  • SATURN
  • URANUS
  • VENUS
  • PLOWSHARE
  • PREHISTORIC MAN
  • PROMETHEUS
  • PYRAMID
  • PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM
  • SAILBOAT
  • SEXTANT
  • STARFISH
  • SUNFLOWER
  • TEAPOT
  • TEST TUBE
  • THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON
  • TRILOBITE FOSSIL
  • VOLTA'S BATTERY
  • WATER
  • WATER WHEEL
  • WATT'S STEAM ENGINE
  • WELL
  • WINDMILL
  • ZEBRA
  • ZOOLOGY

AIR PUMP

An experimental device made famous by Robert Boyle in 1560

Two smaller images expand this theme of physics in its theoretical and practical incarnations. The Air Pump of Robert Boyle was an iconic and emblematic instrument in the seventeenth century. It proved and demonstrated many principles of the new physics, made possible a revolution in chemistry, and elucidated animal physiology. It was very popular with the general public, used in many demonstrations of physical discoveries. It led the way to many useful applications as well. Such pumps, while not very visible to us, are ubiquitous in our daily lives.