VIII. BAROMÈTRES

4. Pascal (1623-1662), the celebrated philosopher and mathematician, boni at Clermont-Ferrand in the former province of Auvergne. The experiment referred to was made in the year 1648.

5. Torricelli (1608-1647), noted physicist to whom the invention (1643, at Florence) of the barometer is commonly ascribed.

6. Galilée, Galileo (1564-1642), the illustrious Italian mathematician, natural philosopher and astronomer, born at Pisa, and appointed, in 1589, professor of mathematics in the famous University of that town. He discovered the law of the swinging of the pendulum, perfected the microscope, invented a télescope with a magnifying power of about thirty diameters, and expounded in a clear and définitive manner the Copernican theory of the révolution of the earth.