Leon Foucault demonstrating Pendulum, 1851

Leon Foucault demonstrating Pendulum, 1851

Entitled: Leon Foucault demonstrating his pendulum at the pantheon in Paris in 1851. As the pendulum swings to and fro in the same straight line relative to the stars, the earth turns slowly beneath it; so compared to the floor, the pendulum's line of swing moves. The Foucault pendulum is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotates, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the first simple proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment. The first public exhibition of a Foucault pendulum took place in February 1851 in the Meridian of the Paris Observatory. A few weeks later Foucault made his most famous pendulum when he suspended a 28 kg brass-coated lead bob with a 67 meter long wire from the dome of the Pantheon, Paris. No artist credited, undated.

Album / NYPL/Science Source

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3331 x 4050 px | 38.6 MB

28.2 x 34.3 cm | 11.1 x 13.5 in (300 dpi)