Jean Bernard Léon Foucault
(1819-1868)
A French experimental physicist. Born in Paris. Became professor of physics at the Paris Observatory in 1885, and member of the Longitude Institute in 1862.
He came upon the idea of proving the revolution of the earth when creating a clock used for controlling telescopes in 1851, and first hung a 2m long pendulum with a 5kg ball in his basement, and confirmed the rotation of the oscillating path, after which he carried out an experiment in the dome of the Pantheon, causing a sensation in Paris.