LEON FOUCAULT

Léon Foucault: Cimetière de MontmartreMy all-time favourite scientist is the French physicist Jean Bernard Léon Foucault. Most famous for his pendulum experiment that demonstrated the effect of the Earth's rotation, he was a genius of empirical physics.

The definitive book on the man and his work is The Life and Science of Léon Foucault: The Man who Proved the Earth Rotates by William Tobin.

Foucault's Pendulum, The Experiment

Several examples of Foucault's famous pendulum can be found in Paris:

Foucault's Pendulum (Musée des Arts et Métiers)
Foucault's Pendulum (Musée des Arts et Métiers)
Foucault's Pendulum (Musée des Arts et Métiers)
Foucault's Pendulum (Musée des Arts et Métiers)
Foucault's Pendulum (Panthéon)
Foucault's Pendulum (Panthéon)
Foucault's Pendulum (Panthéon)
Foucault's Pendulum (Panthéon)

Memorials

Foucault is commemorated at several locations around Paris: on the 🌐Hôtel de Ville; on 🌐La Tour Eiffel; and outside 🌐34 Rue d'Assas, where he lived for much of his adult life.

Léon Foucault: 34 Rue d'Assas
Léon Foucault: 34 Rue d'Assas
Léon Foucault: Hôtel de Ville
Hôtel de Ville. Note the electric arc (lower left) and pendulum (lower right).
Léon Foucault: La Tour Eiffel
Léon Foucault: La Tour Eiffel

Cimetière de Montmartre

Foucault is buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, in 🌐division #7, plot #2.

Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre
Léon Foucault: Cimetière de Montmartre

Foucault's Pendulum, The Book

Oddly, my favourite novel of all time is Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I visited some of the more obscure locations (e.g. 🌐145 Rue la Fayette) mentioned in the book and took the following photos:

Saint-Martin-des-Champs Chapelle
Saint-Martin-des-Champs Chapelle. The one fixed point in the Universe (according to Mr. Eco).
145 La Fayette
145 La Fayette
145 La Fayette
145 La Fayette
145 La Fayette
145 La Fayette
Saint-Jacques Tower
Saint-Jacques Tower
Saint-Jacques Tower
Saint-Jacques Tower
Saint-Jacques Tower plaque
Saint-Jacques Tower plaque