This person was a child prodigy and made several important contributions to mathematics, physics, literature, and philosophy.

In the area of natural sciences, this person is best known for their work on hydrostatic pressure. This person placed a 10 m tube vertically in the top of a barrel of water. When water was poured into the tube, the pressure increased inside the barrel, evidenced by the barrel beginning to leak. This led to the idea that hydrostatic pressure does not depend on the weight of the fluid, but on the difference in elevation.

This person also postulated the idea that for a confined, incompressible fluid, an externally applied pressure is transmitted equally in all directions throughout the fluid so that the pressure ratio stays the same. This results in relatively low pressures being required to exert a lifting force on a piston which is the principle behind the hydraulic press. This has found many applications such as in garages for elevating vehicles during repairs.

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• • The answer was published on August 18, 2012.
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