The first gyroscope was invented in 1852 by Leon Foucault (a traditional mechanical gyroscope of this general type is shown in Fig 1). Foucault thought that he could measure the rotation of the earth ...

Foucault's pendulum has fallen prey to gravity. The 60lb brass bob hanging from a 200ft wire was set to swing from the dome of the Pantheon in Paris by the French physicist Léon Foucault in 1851. It ...

Happy birthday, Jean Bernard Leon Foucault, and thanks for the pendulum. The French physicist and inventor was born in Paris on this day in 1819. It may be hard to fathom, but the idea of Earth ...