Otto von Guericke (Gericke)

German engineer and physicist. Born in Magdeburg. After studying in Leipzig, Helmstadt, and Jena, he entered Leiden University in 1623, where he studied mathematics and mechanics. Returning to his hometown, he became a city council member in 1626 and served as mayor (1646-1676), playing an active role in city government during the upheaval of the Thirty Years' War. During this time, the city was destroyed, and he traveled around the country for a time as an engineer.

He was interested in vacuums, which were a hot topic at the time, and began conducting experiments. Around 1650, he invented a vacuum pump, which he used to conduct experimental research on vacuums and discover aeroelasticity, which was later developed by Boyle and others. In 1657, he performed his famous public experiment in Magdeburg, in which a hemisphere was pulled by a horse. This experiment, as well as many of his other experiments on vacuums and his philosophical considerations on them, were compiled in 1672 in New Magdeburg Experiments on the Vacuum. He is also considered the inventor of the electric motor and a pioneer in electrical research, as he performed experiments on the friction of sulfur balls. However, this experiment was conducted based on the idea that celestial bodies interact through magnetic forces, and he regarded the effect of static electricity generated by friction on a metal ball containing sulfur as proof of the power of celestial bodies. He also considers the infinity of the universe and the world.

[Takada Kiyoshi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの工学者、物理学者。マクデブルクに生まれる。ライプツィヒ、ヘルムシュタット、イエナで学んだのち、1623年ライデン大学に入り、数学・力学を修めた。故郷に戻って1626年に市会議員となったほか、市長を務める（1646～1676）など、三十年戦争の激動のなかで市政に活躍した。この間、市街が破壊され、各地を遍歴して工学者として活躍した時期もある。

　当時話題であった真空に関心をもち、実験に取り組み、1650年ごろ真空ポンプを発明し、それを用いて真空の実験研究を行い、空気弾性を発見、これらはその後、ボイルらによって発展させられた。1657年にはマクデブルクで、半球をウマに引っ張らせる有名な公開実験を行った。この実験をはじめ、彼の真空に関する多くの実験とそれに関する哲学的考察は、1672年に『真空に関するマクデブルクの新実験』にまとめられた。また、硫黄(いおう)球の摩擦実験を行ったことから、起電機の発明者とか電気学研究の先駆者にあげられることもある。ただし、この実験は、天体が磁気力によって相互作用をするという考えで行ったものであり、硫黄を含む金属球に摩擦で生じさせた静電気の効果を天体の力の証明としてとらえていたのである。宇宙と世界の無限についての考察もある。

［高田紀代志］

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