ABSTRACT
This chapter considers labors posed by concerns about science literacy and public understanding of science. It suggests some ways scientists and science teachers might budge persistent, daunting attitudes that would have fazed Hercules. The proposed 13th labor of Hercules is easily accomplished with the aid of Torricelli’s barometer. Many scholarly papers in Torricelli’s day tried in vain to save the old view by postulating such things as invisible threads holding up the mercury. The story also shows how a new conceptual paradigm gives rise to experimental techniques that further extend its scope. From the pressure exerted by 30 inches of mercury or 34 feet of water, the equivalent atmospheric pressure is determined to be about 15 pounds per square inch. The vacuum left between the top of the mercury column and the sealed end of the glass tube refuted Aristotle’s dictum.
