1-158-484 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Von Guericke's demonstration of the strength of a vacuum, 1654 (1672). The man on the right is using an air pump to create the vacuum. The combined efforts of fifty men were used in the demonstration which took place at Ratisbon (Regensburg) in 1654. From Experimenta Nova ut vocantur Magdeburgica De Vacuo Spatio (New Magdeburg Experiments About the Vacuum) by Otto von Guericke. (Amsterdam, 1672).