Brescia of 2023 is like Paris of 1851 in the name of Foucault and, more generally, in the name of science. Although space exploration has given us accurate information about our planet and given us stunning images, it’s still exciting to see the Earth’s rotation with your own eyes (and practically under your feet). It happened in the mid-19th century at the Panthéon in Paris, where Leon Foucault invited Parisians to “see the Earth turning” thanks to the pendulum, a 28-kg copper ball hanging from a 68-meter-long string. The marks left by the awl on a 5 cm thick layer of sand showed that the pendulum tends to rotate to the right, which is a sign of the Earth’s rotation. At that time it was already known that the Earth revolves around itself, but the main arguments in support of this thesis were related only to the observation of celestial bodies, so the idea of the pendulum was, in its own way, revolutionary. The appeal of Foucault’s pendulum has stood the test of time. On the occasion of the Year of the Capital of Culture, and on the occasion of the Night of European Researchers, the Catholic University of Brescia proposes, in the Duomo Nuovo Cathedral, an experiment demonstrating the rotation of the Earth around its axis: more than 400 reservations have already arrived for Tuesday at 8.30 p.m., so much so that a live broadcast has also been activated to meet requests. . The initiative is organized by the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy and the “Historical Collections – Carlo Vigano Library of the History of Science”, in collaboration with the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, the Media Museum of Arezzo (Mumec) and the Arezzo Museum. Support of the Municipality, Diocese of Brescia, Acrobatic Construction Company. “The pendulum – as Cassie explained in the preview – is suspended from a 65-metre-long wire. The physical and design characteristics of the original have been respected, with the only variant being the tip of the ball equipped with a laser lamp which will project a red light beam that can be easily seen for the duration of the oscillation.”
Federica Basella
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