Barometric Pressure: Researches in Experimental Physiology

Barometric pressure is the atmospheric pressure, typically measured by the height of a mercury column. French physiologist Paul Bert's seminal work, La Pression barométrique, recherches de physiologie expérimentale (1878), explored the effects of air pressure on the human body. Bert's research demonstrated that low oxygen at high altitudes causes illness and studied decompression sickness in divers, explaining how rapid pressure changes can cause nitrogen bubbles in the blood. His findings were crucial for the development of aviation and aerospace medicine.12