1610-1670

Italian prince who invented the liquid-in-glass thermomenter (1641). When the variability of air pressure was discovered, it was realized thermometers responded to such changes as well as temperatures changes. Ferdinand's sealed instruments were designed so as not to be affected by atmospheric pressure changes. He also founded the Accademia del Cimento (Academy of Experiments) in 1657, which greatly influenced the development of experimental physics with the publication Saggi di Naturali experenze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento (1668).