Abstract
ALTHOUGH numberless accounts have appeared of the precautions necessary in the obtaining of high vacua, some serious workers seem still to imagine that they can reach “a perfect vacuum” or “a pressure of 0·001 mm.” in an apparatus from which absorbed water has not been removed. The lingering of this ancient superstition is due to the prevalence of the McLeod gauge; if any gauge which indicates vapours as well as permanent gases had been in general use, it could never have arisen. Historians may dispute whether the invention of the McLeod gauge has advanced or retarded the development of science; but there is no doubt that to-day, though it may have special uses (such as the calibration of other gauges) under rigidly controlled conditions, it is usually a mere relic of the past.
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CAMPBELL, N., DUDDING, B. & RYDE, J. A Substitute for the McLeod Gauge. Nature 112, 651–652 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112651b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112651b0
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