Michel Foucault of left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published "Discipline and Punish" (1975) and "The History of Sexuality" (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods which emphasized the role that power plays in society. Foucault died in Paris of neurological problems compounded by HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory. Paul-Michel Foucault was born on 15 October 1926 in the city of Poitiers, west-central France, as the second of three
Foucault pendulum vector diagrams of the arc. The support structure is dependent on the velocity of the surface of the Earth where it is located. The point of connection of the pendulum moves with the surface velocity vectors of the Earth at that latitude. At the equator the support-point moves with the equatorial rotation of the Earth and moves the pendulum swing along with this rotation. At the poles the support-point is located on the axis of the Earth so the support-point rotates but does not have a horizontal velocity component as it does at the equator (and a progressively less horizontal velocity component