Evangelista Torricelli, a gifted Italian physicist and mathematician, dedicated his life to the world of science not only through his work with Benedetto Castelli, one of Galileo’s students, and Galileo Galilei himself, but also through his own individual endeavors. Torricelli is largely credited with a variety of contributions to the science world, which took place both before and after Torricelli was appointed to take over the work of Galileo after his death (West, pg. 20). His most prominent contributions to science include, but are not limited to, the development of his own mathematical theorem on the velocity of liquids, progressing Galileo’s system of mechanics, and most famously, the invention of the barometer (Magill, 2013). It was this monumental discovery of the barometer which lead the ground breaking realization that air has pressure – a concept that changed the course of scientific discovery as we know it.
BACKGROUND…show more content… Coming from a moderate income household, as his father was textile artisan, he lived the merchant class life but with an extraordinary mind. His father recognized his son’s great potential and, at a young age, sent Torricelli to gain a proper education from his uncle. Under the guidance of his uncle, Torricelli was able to master the humanities until he moved in 1625 in order to study mathematics and philosophy with the Jesuits. Mathematics was where Torricelli excelled, so much so that in 1626 his uncle sent him to Rome in order to study with Benedetto Castelli. Benedetto Castelli was a highly acclaimed mathematician and hydraulic engineer, who was also the pupil of Galileo Galilei (Magill, 2013). Upon teaching and working with Torricelli, Castelli the outstanding scientific mind that Torricelli possessed. This lead to Castelli appointing Torricelli to be his
