Abstract
Pascal now concludes his Treatise on the Equilibrium of Liquids and the Weight of the Mass of the Air by marshaling all of his rhetorical skill to make a case against those who would claim that nature abhors a vacuum. Do you find his arguments fair and convincing?
Does nature abhor a vacuum more in the highlands than in the lowlands? In damp weather more than in fine? Is not its abhorrence the same on a steeple, in an attic, and in the yard?
—Blaise Pascal
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kuehn, K. (2015). Does Nature Abhor a Vacuum?. In: A Student's Guide Through the Great Physics Texts. Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1366-4_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1366-4_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1365-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1366-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)