Léon Foucault Catholicism that he previously abandoned. Foucault died of what was probably a rapidly developing case of multiple sclerosis on 11 February 1868 in Paris and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery. The asteroid 5668 Foucault was named for him. His is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. Collected Works: Léon Foucault Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (; 18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868) was a French physicist best known for his demonstration of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth's rotation. He also made an early measurement of the speed of light,
Foucault pendulum vector diagrams at the equator to zero at the pole even though the angular velocities are all the same. formula_1 = formula_2 = formula_3 The ratio of the surface velocity at two given latitudes is equal to the ratio of the cosine for the two given latitudes. formula_4 = formula_5 = formula_6 The time to observe one full rotation of the Earth in relation to the plane of a swinging pendulum is one day at the poles (the minimum time) and cannot be observed (infinitely long, the maximum time) at the equator. One of the great insights by Léon Foucault is to