Leon Foucault
Who is he?
Leo Foucault was born on September 18, 1819. He was educated at home at first. After that he started to study medicine. He later decided to stop medicine in favor of physics.
He was an experimental assistant for three years. He decided to experiment after that.
The Foucault Pendulum
The Foucault Pendulum is an experimental demonstration of the rotation of Earth on its axis. Foucault did this by hanging a large, heavy pendulum from the ceiling of the Pantheon in Paris. This demonstrated earths rotation. This was a sensation, and many people around the world suspended "Foucault's Pendulums" in their major cities.
Foucault's impact on Earth Science
There are many important discoveries Leon Foucault made that make Earth Science what it is today. One thing is that he proved that Earth rotates on an axis. He did this with a pendulum, and a year later invented a gyroscope to prove this also. He invented the polarizer. He also invented the "knife test" To determine whether a mirror is perfectly spherical. This helps our modern day telescopes. Leon Foucault is a very important person in history, and without him we would not have many modern day ideas and inventions.