(407) 622-6657

Shipping is just $4.99

Product Image

Pendulum: Leon Foucault and the Triumph of Science

Author Aczel

Format Hardcover

Publisher Atria

Category Science

Out of Stock

Notify Me

If you have an account we can notify you when we add a copy of this item to our inventory.

In 1851, struggling, self-taught physicist Lǒn Foucault performed a dramatic demonstration inside the Panthǒn in Paris. By tracking a pendulum's path as it swung repeatedly across the interior of the large ceremonial hall, Foucault offered the first definitive proof -- before an audience that comprised the cream of Parisian society, including the future emperor, Napoleon III -- that the earth revolves on its axis. In this book, Amir Aczel has revealed the life of a gifted physicist who had almost no formal education in science, and yet managed to succeed despite the adversity he suffered at the hands of his peers. Foucault gave us the modern electric compass, devised an electric microscope, invented photographic technology, and made remarkable deductions about color theory, heat waves, and the speed of light. Yet until now so little has been known about his life. Pendulum tells of the illustrious period in France during the Second Empire; of Foucault's relationship with Napoleon III, a colorful character in his own right; and -- most notably -- of the crucial triumph of science over religion.

Authors

Aczel

Additional Info

  • Release Date: 2003-08-01
  • Publisher: Atria
  • Format: Hardcover
  • ISBN: 9780743464789

No copies of this item are currently available.