Nuovo apparecchio d'induzione tellurica.

Palmieri, Luigi

Publication Date: 1845

About this Item

Napoli, Tipografia dell' Aquila di V. Puziello, 1845, 4°, 16 pp., 1 gefalt. gestochene Tafel, feine Broschur. Rare Offprint! Palmieri's major contribution to physics concerned the design and construction of instruments, such as the telluric induction apparatus, also known as the 'Palmieri circle' (Nuovo apparecchio d'induzione tellurica, Napoli 1845) and the two-wire electrometer (Lezioni elementari di fisica sperimentale e di meteorologia, I-II, ibid., 1852-53). After Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, i.e. the creation of an electric current by means of a moving magnet, scientists tried to obtain induced current using other configurations, e.g. by using the Earth as a large fixed magnet and obtaining an induced current in a moving circuit. The telluric induction apparatus devised by Palmieri fitted into this configuration. It consisted of an elliptical wooden frame, in the groove of which a long copper wire (about 700 metres) was wound, suitably insulated, to produce about 120 coils. The frame was oriented so that its axis of rotation was orthogonal to the plane of the magnetic meridian of the location. A mechanism similar to that of Edward Marmaduke Clarke's machine was used in rotating the frame, in order to break the circuit and obtain the induced current. On Clarke's device, in the configuration where the intensity is at its highest, a spark is produced at the ends of the circuit and, by holding the two knobs connected to the circuit terminals, an electric shock is felt. Palmieri called it telluric current because it was induced by the earth's magnetic field. The instrument was presented to the Royal Academy of Sciences and a description of it appears in the Rendiconti dell'Accademia (Nuovo apparecchio d'induzione tellurica, in Rendiconti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze fisiche e matematiche, V [1845], pp. 15-31). -cf. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 80 (2014) Luigi Palmieri (1807-1896) was an Italian physicist and meteorologist. He was famous for his scientific studies of the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, for his researches on earthquakes and meteorological phenomena and for improving the seismograph of the time. Using an electromagnetic seismometer for the detection and measurement of ground tremors, Palmieri was able to detect very slight movements in trying to predict volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, he was the first to detect the presence of Helium on Earth on the lava of Mount Vesuvius. Wheeler Nr. 1079. Seller Inventory # 68080

Bibliographic Details

Title: Nuovo apparecchio d'induzione tellurica.

Publication Date: 1845

Binding: Soft cover