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 transport. There are numerous Foucault pendulums at universities, science museums, and the like throughout the world. The United Nations headquarters in New York City has one; the largest is at the Oregon Convention Center. The experiment has also been carried out at the South Pole, where it was assumed that the rotation of the earth would have maximum effect at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, in a six-story staircase of a new station under construction. The pendulum had a length of 33 m and the bob weighed 25 kg. The location was ideal: no moving air could disturb the pendulum,