HackingTheUniverse

Johann Geissler was born in German in 1815 and is known for the invention of the Geissler tube.

Prior to creating his tubes, in 1855, Geissler developed a new way to use mercury displacement in a vacuum pump that was more efficient than previous pump designs. The new low pressure created by the mercury pump enabled the development of the gas tubes. His tube was a sealed glass cylinder containing gas or vapor and with electrodes embedded in each end. Geissler invented the tube in 1857 and demonstrated that when electricity was passed through the gas via the electrodes, the gas would give off light.

PRECURSOR:
1206 – suction pump
1608 – Torricelli
1643 – barometer
1650 – vacuum pump

CONCURRENT:
1854 – mercury vacuum pump
1855 – vacuum tube

SUBSEQUENT:
1875 – Crookes tube
1906 – amplifier tube
1947 – transistor