Piezometer

Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851) was a Danish scientist best known for having discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. He also designed an instrument for measuring the compressibility of liquids. That instrument was variously known as an Oersted apparatus or a piezometer. The latter term may have been coined by the American inventor and mechanical engineer, Jacob Perkins (1766-1849).

The registering apparatus of this example has been lost. The "Lerebours à Paris” inscription on the base refers to either Noel Jean Lerebours (1761-1840) or to his son, Nicolas Paymal Lerebours (1807-1873).

Ref: Jacob Perkins, “On the Compressibility of Water,” American Journal of Science (May 1821): 347-352, and illus; from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London .

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