![Cub Scouts viewing the Foucault Pendulum at the Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh PA, 1956
“The Foucault Pendulum provides a classic demonstration that the Earth rotates on its axis. Contained within a beautiful brass and marble Pendulum Pit, the true cardinal points of the compass are displayed below the swing of the Pendulum.
“The Foucault Pendulum is one of the original exhibits [and, was one of Buhl’s ‘talking exhibits’] in The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, on display when the building and all contents were dedicated and gifted to the City of Pittsburgh by the Buhl Foundation on 1939 October 24. The steel pendulum wire was fabricated at the Jones and Laughlin Steel Works on the South Side. To ensure there would be no bias in the swing of the pendulum, this long wire was transported from the South Side Works to Buhl Planetarium completely straight, with no bends or curves in the wire. A special truck permit had to be secured from the city, to allow this specially-long load to travel over city streets, to reach Buhl Planetarium.” (via Exhibits … of the Buhl Planetarium)
I visited the Foucault Pendulum at the Buhl when I was very, very young. It’s the kind of childhood memory that happened so long ago that it feels surreal and foreboding in my mind, even though nothing particularly weird happened. It was one of the first times I remember feeling Small in the Universe.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxys7gCSiH1qac9ivo1_500.jpg)
Cub Scouts viewing the Foucault Pendulum at the Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh PA, 1956
“The Foucault Pendulum provides a classic demonstration that the Earth rotates on its axis. Contained within a beautiful brass and marble Pendulum Pit, the true cardinal points of the compass are displayed below the swing of the Pendulum.
“The Foucault Pendulum is one of the original exhibits [and, was one of Buhl’s ‘talking exhibits’] in The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, on display when the building and all contents were dedicated and gifted to the City of Pittsburgh by the Buhl Foundation on 1939 October 24. The steel pendulum wire was fabricated at the Jones and Laughlin Steel Works on the South Side. To ensure there would be no bias in the swing of the pendulum, this long wire was transported from the South Side Works to Buhl Planetarium completely straight, with no bends or curves in the wire. A special truck permit had to be secured from the city, to allow this specially-long load to travel over city streets, to reach Buhl Planetarium.” (via Exhibits … of the Buhl Planetarium)
I visited the Foucault Pendulum at the Buhl when I was very, very young. It’s the kind of childhood memory that happened so long ago that it feels surreal and foreboding in my mind, even though nothing particularly weird happened. It was one of the first times I remember feeling Small in the Universe.
