Mathematicians Of The Day

3rd February



On this day in 1851, Léon Foucault demonstrated his pendulum in the Paris Observatory. The demonstration was a complete success. A paper by Foucault on his pendulum was read by Arago to the Academy of Sciences on the same day as the experiment was carried out in the Observatory.

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Quotation of the day

From Oliver Heaviside
Euclid for children is barbarous.
Quoted in D MacHale, Comic Sections (Dublin 1993)