In 1852 Foucault successfully perfected the gyroscope to confirm the Earth’s rotation. As a scientific spectacle, the pendulum strongly affects anyone who has witnessed one in motion (see “Seeing our ...

By themselves, gyroscopes are not a new technology—a sickly Frenchman who failed to become a doctor invented them in the 1850s. Leon Foucault had a short-sighted eye and hated school.

AVON LAKE, Ohio – A catered event will help physics students in advanced classes at Avon Lake High School build a Foucault pendulum. The science project has been in the works for several years.