1608-1647
#Torricelli
"We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of elementary air, which is known by incontestable experiments to have weight." — Evangelista Torricelli
Italian physicist and mathematician who invented the barometer in 1643 and made crucial discoveries about atmospheric pressure and the vacuum. A student of Galileo, he succeeded his mentor as mathematician to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Torricelli also made significant contributions to optics and the development of the telescope, and his work on the geometry of cycloids influenced later calculus development.