Editing Barometer (section)

=== Water barometers ===

[[File:Barometer Goethe 01.jpg|thumb|Goethe's device]]

The concept that decreasing atmospheric pressure predicts stormy weather, postulated by [[Lucien Vidi]], provides the theoretical basis for a weather prediction device called a "weather glass" or a "Goethe barometer" (named for [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], the renowned German writer and [[polymath]] who developed a simple but effective weather ball barometer using the principles developed by [[Evangelista Torricelli|Torricelli]]).  The [[French language|French]] name, ''le baromètre Liègeois'', is used by some English speakers.<ref name="turner">Gerard L'E. Turner, ''Nineteenth Century Scientific Instruments'', Sotheby Publications, 1983, p. 236, {{ISBN|0-85667-170-3}}</ref>  This name reflects the origins of many early weather glasses – the glass blowers of [[Liège]], [[Belgium]].<ref name=turner /><ref name=zittle>Claus Zittle, ''Philosophies of Technology: Francis Bacon and His Contemporaries'', Brill 2008, pp. 115, 116 {{ISBN|90-04-17050-2}}</ref>

The weather ball barometer consists of a glass container with a sealed body, half filled with water.  A narrow spout connects to the body below the water level and rises above the water level. The narrow spout is open to the atmosphere. When the air pressure is lower than it was at the time the body was sealed, the water level in the spout will rise above the water level in the body; when the air pressure is higher, the water level in the spout will drop below the water level in the body.  A variation of this type of barometer can be easily made at home.<ref name="JET">Jet Stream. [https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/ll_pressure Learning Lesson: Measure the Pressure – The "Wet" Barometer.] Retrieved on 2019-01-21.</ref>