Pendulum: Leon Foucault and the Triumph of Science - Couverture rigide

Aczel, Amir D.

 
9780743464789: Pendulum: Leon Foucault and the Triumph of Science

Synopsis

Book by Aczel Amir D

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Présentation de l'éditeur

In 1853, before the upper crust of French society - including the emperor Napoleon III - a little known physicist named Leon Foucault staged a dramatic demonstration inside the Pantheon in Paris. He set in motion a seventy metre long pendulum that swung slowly across the interior of the large ceremonial hall, hanging from its high ceiling.
Foucault's famous experiment revolutionised the entire world of science, and of society itself. He had proved, beyond a doubt, that the earth does indeed rotate on its axis. In PENDULUM, renowned scientist and author Amir Aczel brings readers the first detailed non-fiction account of how this struggling physicist came to his remarkable breakthrough, as well as the opposition he faced - both before and after his demonstration - at the hands of the scientific community in France. Drawing a wonderfully vivid portrait of Napoleon III and Paris during the Second Empire, Aczel chronicles France's scientific glory during the 1850s, and evaluates how Foucault’s theories and achievements are viewed in the current perspective of modern science.

Revue de presse

The Christian Science Monitor This intriguing account...exemplifies a lesson that humanity seems forever reluctant to learn: How the world appears depends on your frame of reference.

Simon Winchester author of The Professor and the Madman [S]eductively captivating....With all the clarity and narrative brilliance that has become [Aczel's] hallmark.

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Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780743464796: Pendulum: Leon Foucault and the Triumph of Science

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  0743464796 ISBN 13 :  9780743464796
Editeur : Washington Square Press, 2004
Couverture souple