Eric Chassefiere - Physics of the Terrestrial Environment, Subtle Matter and Height of the Atmosphere

1 Cover

2 Title Page Series Editor Denis-Dider Rousseau

3 Copyright First published 2021 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: ISTE Ltd 27-37 St George’s Road London SW19 4EU UK www.iste.co.uk John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA www.wiley.com © ISTE Ltd 2021 The rights of Eric Chassefière to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Library of Congress Control Number: 2021940067 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78630-717-0

4 Introduction

5 1 Words Used to Describe the Atmosphere and Subtle Matter 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Air and the atmosphere 1.3. Vapors and exhalations 1.4. Coarse and subtle matters 1.5. The triptych of heat, fire and light 1.6. Ether 1.7. Fundamental properties of air

6 2 Refractive Matter2.1. Introduction 2.2. State of knowledge in the 17th century 2.3. Arguments for the introduction of a refractive matter other than air 2.4. Discussion 2.5. Conclusion

7 3 Solar Matter3.1. Introduction 3.2. State of knowledge of the Sun in the 17th century 3.3. Solar matter and height of the atmosphere 3.4. Conclusion

8 4 Magnetic Matter4.1. Introduction 4.2. Main concepts of magnetism in the 17th century 4.3. The explanation of the aurora borealis by magnetic matter 4.4. Magnetism in the second half of the 18th century 4.5. Conclusion

9 5 Electrical Matter5.1. Introduction 5.2. Highlighting the link between electricity and thunderstorm activity 5.3. Knowledge of the nature of electricity in the mid-18th century 5.4. Precursory work on fiery meteors 5.5. Explanation using electricity 5.6. Elucidation of the origin of fiery meteors and falling stars 5.7. Conclusion

10 6 Subtle Air6.1. Introduction 6.2. Difference in mercury heights between different barometers 6.3. Suspension of water and mercury from the tops of inverted tubes 6.4. Gravity theories and the impulse system 6.5. Light barometers 6.6. Conclusion

11 7 Results and Theories on the Height of the Atmosphere in the 18th Century7.1. Introduction 7.2. Representation of the atmosphere inherited from previous centuries 7.3. Two major paradigms for the composition and vertical extension of the atmosphere in the 18th century 7.4. The three main inconsistencies between estimates of atmospheric height made by different methods 7.5. Two other methods for estimating the height of the atmosphere 7.6. Conclusion

12 8 Atmospheres of Earthly Bodies8.1. Introduction 8.2. Porosity of bodies 8.3. Atmospheres of bodies 8.4. Conclusion

13 Conclusion

14 References

15 Index

16 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 2 Figure 2.1. Riccioli’s twilight table (Riccioli 1651, p. 39) Figure 2.2. Experimental device used by Lowthorp for his refraction measurements...Figure 2.3. Representation of marine instruments (“English quarter”, Figures 9 a...

2 Chapter 3Figure 3.1. Cometary tail patterns (Oliver 1777, p. 148). For a color version of...Figure 3.2. Drawing of an aurora observed in Breuillepont, France (Mairan 1733, ...Figure 3.3. Table of auroras borealis observed between 500 and 1731. Totals per ...

3 Chapter 4Figure 4.1. Explanatory diagram of vortex formation (Descartes 1681, p. 212) Figure 4.2. Explanatory diagram of the orientation of a magnet in the vicinity o...

4 Chapter 5Figure 5.1. Representation of the explosion of the fiery meteor of July 17, 1771...Figure 5.2. Diagrams of the fiery meteor of 1758 from the various testimonies co...Figure 5.3. Trajectory of the 1771 meteor between its appearance in Sussex Count...

5 Chapter 6Figure 6.1. Device used by Huygens to show water suspension (Huygens 1672, p. 13...Figure 6.2. Schematic diagrams of various experiments carried out by Hauksbee to...

6 Chapter 8Figure 8.1. Devices used for the experiment with the wooden vase (left) and the ...Figure 8.2. Charcoal pores (top) and petrified wood pores (bottom) under the mic...

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

3 Title Page Series Editor Denis-Dider Rousseau

4 Copyright First published 2021 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: ISTE Ltd 27-37 St George’s Road London SW19 4EU UK www.iste.co.uk John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA www.wiley.com © ISTE Ltd 2021 The rights of Eric Chassefière to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Library of Congress Control Number: 2021940067 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-78630-717-0

5 Introduction

6 Begin Reading

7 Conclusion

8 References

9 Index

10 End User License Agreement

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