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 the article discussing the Coriolis Effect for further details. The motion of ballistics with changing latitude is not helpful to understanding the change with latitude of the observed rotation time of the pendulum. (This discussion point is different from what is stated in the reference book.) There is only one point of connection to the Earth for the swinging pendulum and that point of connection doesn't move in relation to the Earth. Because the plane of the pendulum swing is free to swing in relation to the rotation of the structure of the connection point, the rotation of the Earth