The History of Vacuum Equipment

Aristotle, some 1650 years ago, was one of the first to make any serious comments about vacuum that have survived time. Aristotle could not accept the concept of a void, which led to his statement, nature abhors a vacuum. This comment may not tell us very much about what is taking place in a vacuum, but it is as true now as it was then. 

Robert Boyle (a founder of the Royal Society of England) heard about Guericke s pump and experiments and decided to scientifically analyze them. Aside from making improvements upon the design of the air pump, he also developed the relationship between gas pressure, volume, and temperature. This relationship was later called Boyle s law [see Eq. (7.2)]. 

Manometers were eventually used as measurement devices. By the 1770s, mercury was boiled to increase measurement accuracy. Thus, albeit crudely, both out-gassing and baking out of a vacuum system were instigated. 

In 1851, Newman developed a mechanical pump that achieved a vacuum of 30.06 in. of mercury on a day that the barometer was reading 30.08 in. This pump was very impressive for the time. Vacuum technology was further enhanced by the invention of the Toepler pump in 1862, the Sprengel pump in 1865, and the McLeod gauge in 1874. 

Since 1945, the fields of vacuum physics, technology, and technique have become the backbone of modem industrial production. From energy development and refinement, to silicon chips in watches, games, and computers, all are dependent on striving for nothing.  

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