Early applications of vacuum, from Aristotle to Langmuir

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Abstract
Highlights of the development of vacuum science and technology from ancient times to the early 20th century are reviewed. The view of the Greek philosophers that vacuum was an impossibility hampered understanding of the basic principles of vacuum until the mid‐17th century. Verifiable vacua were first produced in Italy by Berti and Torricelli; von Guericke’s dramatic experiments vividly demonstrated atmospheric pressure. Pistonlike ‘‘air pumps’’ were widely used in England and the European continent through the 18th and early 19th centuries to produce and characterize the properties of vacuum (lack of sound transmission, inability to support life, gas discharges, etc.). The Industrial Revolution was made possible through the genius of Newcomen, who designed huge atmospheric engines (based on condensation of steam to form a vacuum beneath a piston, which was then driven by the pressure of the atmosphere). A system of ‘‘atmospheric railways’’ propelled by vacuum pistons was built in England in the mid‐19th century. Serious scientific developments of the 19th century which necessitated vacuum included Crookes’ and Faraday’s gaseous discharge measurements, the first sputtering experiments by Grove, the isolation of the rare gases by Ramsay, the standards work of Miller, the discovery of the electron by Thomson, and of x‐rays by Röntgen. The development of the incandescent light by Edison provided a background for the remarkable achievements of Langmuir in vacuum and surface science at the dawn of the 20th century. An Appendix is included which lists museums containing vacuum‐related exhibits.

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