Prior to 1600 the science industry was small, mainly supporting theactivities of University "experimenters" and philosophers. All thatwas to change with a series of discoveries that would pave the way forthe industrial revolution.

In the early 1650's OTTO VON GUERICKE ,a German experimentalphilosopher, was making observations by experimenting with a pump onwater placed in a barrel, but found that when the water was drawn offthe air permeated the wood. - He then took a globe of copper fittedwith pump and stopcock, and discovered that he could pump out air aswell as water. Thus he became the inventor of the air-pump (1650).

He illustrated his discovery before the emperor Ferdinand III atRegensburg in 1654, by the experiment of the "Magdeburg hemispheres."Taking two hollow hemispheres of copper, twenty inches in diameter, the edges of which fitted nicely together, he exhausted the air frombetween them by means of his pump, and it is recorded that thirtyhorses, fifteen back to back, were unable to pull them asunder untilthe air was readmitted.

By this experiment Von Guericke showed the world that seeminglyinsubstantial gases could exert astonishing forces -- forces thatcould probably be harnessed. Effectively, Von Guericke had discoveredthe vacuum pump, and also demonstrated the force of atmosphericpressure using his pump. Without that experiment's results, the wholeindustrial revolution, and the science industry that was built tosupport it, would have gone in a different direction.

In 1657, upon learning of the invention of the air pump by Otto vonGuericke, Robert Boyle followed up the work and showed that a vacuum(or at least a near vacuum) could exist. In New ExperimentsPhysico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects(1660), Boyle described some 43 experiments with the air pump. Amonghis many conclusions, he noted that air has weight, exerts pressure,and is elastic; that sound cannot travel through a vacuum; and thatair is essential for combustion and for respiration by livingcreatures. And in observing that the volume of a gas varies inverselywith pressure, he arrived at his famous law of pneumatics,posthumously named Boyle's law.

All of this work can be seen as a direct consequence of the VonGuericke Magdeburg hemisphere experiment and for the rest of theseventeenth century, people worked to find a way to make use of theforces that Von Guericke and Boyle had described.

There were also "side" issues from the sphere experiments, in that theresults led Boyle and other chemists to look directly at the nature ofgases and, indirectly, to the formulation of atomic theory. It couldbe said that the transition from Alchemy to Chemistry came from Boyle,via the Magdeberg experiments, ushering in the era of chemistry as abusiness.

The industrial revolution led to a rapid expansion in the actualindustry of science, as ever more machines were built andexperimenters made ever more discoveries, which led to ever moredemand for materials and an industry to support and driveindustrialisation.

For example, other aspects of Boyle's work directlyinfluenced by the Magdeburg spheres experiment led to the discovery ofoxygen, which in turn led to work on combustion, respiratory diseasesand the analysis of the elements. It also helped to solve the problemsof mine drainage, and produced advances in metallurgy, notably steelproduction. The examination of gasses would one day lead to theinvestigation of light passing through the gasses, and that in turn tothe discovery of cathode rays and the television set.

So without Von Guericke's work, it could reasonably be said that therewould be no vacuum pumps and no steam engines, no industrialrevolution, no mass production of metals, no internal combustionengine, no television.

It wouldn't be just the science industry thatwas different...the whole industrialised world would be a verydifferent place today.

William Meikle is a Scottish tech author, with 20 years experience in IT management. He is available for all freelance writing work. Contact him and read more free advice at his web site http://www.williammeikle.com