A Phair name?

[Chris Peterson]

Want me to help bail? There are a lot of things in that short statement... ''It is still a planet'', Incorrect, ''That never changed'' Incorrect. ''In a narrow context- recommended usage in scientific publications'' Its one or the other dude... Just like bang or no bang...

It certainly isn't one or the other. Just look in a dictionary. Look at how "planet" is, and has been used in common language. Of course it has multiple meanings.

''In scientific usage.... ''there is no consensus and you see Pluto called different things. Of course, it doesn't matter in the slightest, since it is what it is, likewise for the other bodies of the Solar System''. It does not matter? Are you teaching people this? Your going to spend a long time naming all those planets in the asteroid belt don,t you think?

Why do planets need to be named? I teach that a planet can be anything (non-fusing) orbiting a star, from dust on up to gas giants. I teach that most people draw a line at the mass required for a body to reach hydrostatic equilibrium- basically, spherical objects. I teach that the IAU attempted to create a definition for "planet", but it hasn't been well received and is likely to be modified, or even dropped completely. All of these things are simple facts.

I offer my opinion that attempting to define "planet" in a scientifically rigorous way is probably a mistake, and is unnecessary. The word is actually more useful without such a definition. Where effort should be applied is in standardizing functional, meaningful classes for planets- icy, rocky, gas giant, etc. Useful classifications can be based on origin, formation, lithology, history, position, and much more.

BTW, I'm hardly alone in that opinion. Lots of other astronomers think along the same lines.

[bystander]

I believe the IAU's definition was motivated by the need to avoid recognizing other bodies as planets, particularly the dwarf planets, which qualify under the hydrostatic equilibrium definition. Personally, I think Charon and Pluto should qualify as a binary planet, since the barycentre is outside the surface of either, and Nix and Hydra orbit that same barycentre.

[neufer]

ok lets re-quote that:

Her grandfather, the retired head of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, read a newspaper account of the discovery of the mysterious new planet. He wondered aloud what it should be called. "And for some reason," she told NASA, "I, after a short pause, said, 'Why not PLuto?' "

maybe if you can find a connection between former head of the Bodleian Library,
Oxford and anyone in Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona - then you have a case here.

But, you see, it's Falconer Madan's obsession in Lewis Carroll that really interests me:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falconer_Madan

<<Falconer Madan (15 April 1851-22 May 1935) was Librarian of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. Falconer was educated at Marlborough College and Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1912 Madan became Librarian of the Bodleian.

Madan helped Sidney Herbert Williams revise his A Bibliography of Lewis Carroll (London: The Bookman's Journal, 1924), the first such, into A Handbook of the Literature of the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Mathematics Professor at Oxford), receiving co-author credit, and published a supplement thereto in 1935. He also edited The Lewis Carroll Centenary in London (London: J. & E. Bumpus, 1932), a catalog of the exhibition.

Falconer Madan married Frances Jane Hayter (1862-1938). His daughter Ethel married Reverend Charles Fox Burney, Oriel Professor at Oxford, and his granddaughter Venetia Burney is credited with proposing the name Pluto for the erstwhile planet.>>


Venetia Burney, as she then was, at the age of 11 when her name 'Pluto' was accepted by the astronomers
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<<Even though he was retired, it was Falconer Madan's habit to visit the Bodleian Library regularly to pursue his interest in Lewis Carroll and to visit former colleagues. "He walked down to the Bodleian as usual," Venetia recalled, "and on the way he diverted sufficiently to drop a note in at Professor Turner's house." The £5 reward was typical of her grandfather's generosity, she said. Once Turner had cabled her suggestion to the American astronomers, Venetia heard nothing further for more than a month. At last, on May 1 1930, the name Pluto was formally adopted. As a reward, Madan gave Venetia a white £5 note – a considerable sum at the time. By coincidence, Venetia's great-uncle Henry Madan, a science master at Eton, had, in 1878, successfully suggested the names Phobos and Deimos for the moons of Mars.>>

Venetia Katharine Douglas Burney was born on July 11 1918, the daughter of the Reverend Charles Fox Burney, Oriel Professor of Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, and his wife, Ethel Wordsworth Madan. Venetia's father died when she was six, and she went to live with her maternal grandparents in north Oxford.>>
...............................
<<The names of the Martian moons, originally spelled Phobus & Deimus respectively, were suggested by [Falconer Madan's brother] Henry Madan (1838–1901), Science Master of Eton, from Book XV of the Iliad, where Ares summons Dread (Deimos) and Fear (Phobos).>>
...............................
<<Herbert Hall Turner(13 August 1861–20 August 1930) was a British astronomer and seismologist. He was one of the observers in the Eclipse Expeditions of 1886 and 1887. In seismology, he is credited with the discovery of deep focus earthquakes. He is credited with coining the word parsec.>>

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Venetia Burney: “And for some reason, I after a short pause, said, ‘Why not call it Pluto?’”
...............................
`Why not?' said the March Hare.
...............................
"You see," [the White Knight] went on after a pause,
"it's as well to be provided for everything."
...............................
Now the cleverest thing of the sort that I ever did," he went on
after a pause, "was inventing a new pudding during the meat-course."
...............................
There was a pause in the fight just then, and the Lion and the Unicorn sat down,
...............................
there was a rather awkward pause, as Alice didn't know how
to begin a conversation with people she had just been dancing with.
...............................................
‘It is a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice; ‘but why do you call it sad?’
...............................
"It's long," said the Knight, "but it's very, very beautiful.
Everybody that hears me sing it either it brings the tears into their eyes, or else -- "

"Or else what?" said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.

"Or else it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'"

"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it? "Alice said, trying to feel interested.

"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.'''

"Then I ought to have said, 'That's what the song is called?'" Alice corrected herself.

"No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called 'Ways and Means': but that's only what it's called, you know!"
...............................
`Call it what you like,' said the [Cheshire] Cat.
...............................
The Red Queen shook her head, "You may call it 'nonsense' if you like," she said,
----------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasti ... dcast.html
Interview With Venetia Burney Phair

Hi, this is Edward Goldstein with NASA Public Affairs. I’m talking to Venetia Phair, the lady who 76 years ago had the distinction of suggesting the name for Pluto, the newly discovered ninth planet. Venetia is currently a retired school teacher in Epsom, England.

At NASA we’re very excited because next Tuesday, hopefully, we’re going to launch the first robotic mission to Pluto. And given that you had the historic role of naming the planet, I wonder if you are quite excited about that?

Yes I certainly am.

Venetia, can you tell us a little bit about the circumstances that happened in 1930 that brought you to suggest the name of Pluto?

Yes, I don’t quite know why I suggested it. I think it was on March the 14th, 1930 and I was having breakfast with my mother and my grandfather. And my grandfather read out at breakfast the great news and said he wondered what it would be called. And for some reason, I after a short pause, said, “Why not call it Pluto?” I did know, I was fairly familiar with Greek and Roman legends from various children’s books that I had read, and of course I did know about the solar system and the names the other planets have. And so I suppose I just thought that this was a name that hadn’t been used. And there it was. The rest was entirely my grandfather’s work.

And your grandfather (Falconer Madan) was a librarian I understand who had a lot of friends who were astronomers.

That’s exactly right. He was retired He had been Bodleian’s Librarian, which is the head librarian in the Bodleian at Oxford, which is the university library of course.

And he suggested the name to the astronomer Herbert Hall Turner, who then in turn cabled the idea to the American astronomers at the Lowell Observatory. Is that correct?

That is correct, yes. Professor Turner had been Astronomer Royal in the past and was a professor at Oxford. On the day it was suggested—my grandfather dropped a note to him—he was, on that day, attending a meeting in London of the Royal Astronomical Society. They were all thinking about names, but for some reason, none of them thought of Pluto.

And you thought about it because of the Greek and Roman mythology about Pluto being the god of the underworld?

I don’t think…I doubt if I was as subtle as that. I just thought it was a name that hadn’t been used so far, and might be an obvious one to have.

And was it also because the first two letters PL have a connection with Percival Lowell?

No, I certainly didn’t realize that or appreciate that at the time. But I quite see it would be a major factor in their deciding it would be a good name. And it is certainly appropriate.

What happened once the planet was named? I understand it was named in May of 1930. Were you thrilled when you heard that your suggestion was the one; that Pluto would be the name?

Yes, I certainly was thrilled. It was very exciting for a small girl really at the time.

How were you informed about it?

I think my grandfather told me. I’d heard nothing you see. I’d just really forgotten about it for the intervening months. But he was fairly active.

Was there any great fanfare when the name was announced?

Well not…to a limited extent. I think the newspapers were mostly occupied by the exploits of the woman pilot Amy Johnson at the time (Amy Johnson was the pioneering English aviatrix who in May 1930 became the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia). Anyway, there was a certain amount…you know a few papers I think. My grandfather collected any information there was through a press agency and put it into two scrapbooks that I have, which I treasure, and from which I can refresh my memory at times.

Well we hope you have that scrapbook out next week when we launch New Horizons.

Yes, I expect so. What I know is, I’ve just been by the way sent rather a nice little badge by Johns Hopkins University, which I think is probably the badge I would have been wearing if I’d been able to go to the launch. So I think I’ll wear it from now until after the launch.

Wonderful. Now I understand your great uncle Henry Madan named the moons of Mars Phobos and Deimos. So you come from a family of people who name heavenly bodies?

Yes, I think that is one of the nicest things about the whole story. I’m so very pleased because he had done that from a much more knowledgeable base that I came upon the name Pluto. It’s all been very nice for me really.

I would imagine so. Have you ever seen Pluto through a telescope?

I don’t think I have. I’ve just seen a photograph of Pluto, I think the first photograph that Clyde Tombaugh was looking at, and the next picture showing that the same little pinpoint had moved a certain degree. I have been to Flagstaff, and they were very kind. And they showed us around and they showed us the telescope through which it was first seen.

Did you ever meet Clyde Tombaugh?

No, never, sadly.

Did you ever correspond with him?

No.

Do people in your home town know you have this role in history?

Not to any great extent. Some of them may know because I believe that the BBC when it does it’s coverage of the launch, which I’m sure will be fairly thorough, may slip in a bit, a small interview with me. But on the whole, it doesn’t arise in conversation and you don’t just go around telling people that you named Pluto. But quite a lot of friends know and are interested.

You mean you’ve never had that temptation at a holiday gathering to tell your friends that?

Well not really, but sometimes it’s nice, sometimes I’m glad to have them know.

When you look back at your life, isn’t it exciting that there you were an 11 year old school girl who named this planet, and we’ve come so far technologically that now we can send a spacecraft all this distance in the solar system to this planet Pluto?

Yes, it is absolutely amazing, but it is paralleled by almost everything that has happened in the world, hasn’t it. I mean we have stepped so far into the future as it were since the 1920’s and 1930’s. It leaves one absolutely stunned.

Now I understand you were a teacher. What did you teach?

I taught economics, which had been my subject in university and a little elementary math.

And at no time had you ever told your students that you had named Pluto?

I don’t think so. No. It didn’t really come to mind much. There had been years and years when I never really thought about it. I think its only since Patrick Moore wrote an article in Sky and Telescope in 1984, and I should think that since then there has been an increasing amount of interest in it, especially in America, which has been delightful for me because as one gets older one’s horizons narrow.>>
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There was a long pause.

“Is that all?” Alice timidly asked.

“That’s all,” said Humpty Dumpty. “Good-bye.”
------------------------------------------------

[apodman]

I believe the IAU's definition was motivated by the need to avoid recognizing other bodies as planets, particularly the dwarf planets, which qualify under the hydrostatic equilibrium definition.

I'm not a fan of the part of the IAU's definition that requires a planet to have cleared its orbit of other bodies. As I recall, this is one of the criteria on which they flunked Pluto. I contend that the other eight planets in our solar system were indeed planets long before they cleared their orbits. So why not give Pluto and Charon a few billion more years to clear theirs? If a huge round body orbited the sun way out beyond Pluto, would it not become a planet until it cleared the entire Oort cloud? With particles in orbits with all sorts of planes and eccentricities, just clearing a highway through the cloud wouldn't happen.

[Chris Peterson]

I believe the IAU's definition was motivated by the need to avoid recognizing other bodies as planets, particularly the dwarf planets, which qualify under the hydrostatic equilibrium definition. Personally, I think Charon and Pluto should qualify as a binary planet, since the barycentre is outside the surface of either, and Nix and Hydra orbit that same barycentre.

I think the actual motivation had nothing to do with science, but involved a lot of behind the scene politics with respect to whether or not credit would be due for discovering new "planets" (which were, as you note, dwarf planets). How something can be a dwarf planet while not being a planet is an interesting question, though.

Scientifically, there's no more use for a rigid definition of "planet" than there is for "mountain". Both are actually much more useful when used in a general sense. There are quite a few astronomers who would be happy if the IAU simply dropped their definition completely- something that is distinctly possible at their next meeting.

[BMAONE23]

Bring back Pluto!

It never left. Just do what I do: call it a planet, include it in discussions about planets. I do that in the classroom, I do it in public outreach, and anyplace else it comes up. I don't hear many objections, and when somebody does question it, I use it as a point of discussion.

Common usage is far more powerful in determining what's a planet and what isn't than any resolution of the IAU.

So even though it has been declassified ,, to Chris Peterson its still a planet...? Spread the word....

Your having a laugh. Tells me a lot about your writing on other theories...

Mark

I take it that you disagree with Chris and Others that Pluto should retain it's former PLANET status? I also understand that you further believe that Pluto should never again be refered to as a "PLANET"? Further, that refering to PLUTO as a PLANET, even as a form of protest against the IAU's decision to demote PLUTO would therefore discredit any other scientific expertise you otherwisw hold in any other field?

Please do not put words into my mouth... my conversation was with Chris Peterson...my feelings on Pluto was not said from my mouth...and remain inside my head....until i state otherwise.

mark

I find it strange (and rather sad) that Clyde Tombaugh's little world at the edge of the solar system, engrained in text books as the 9th planet for over 70 years, is suddenly demoted by new definitions of "What is a planet".


By IAU Resolution 5a
"RESOLUTION 5A

The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System, except satellites, be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A "planet" [1] is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit."

(a) Pluto orbits the Sun, (b) Pluto has sufficient mass as it IS round, The only question then would be concerning weather or not Pluto has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. I don't believe we have seen sufficiently at that distance to say with any measure of certainty it has not done this.

The only thing for certain is that an uncounted number of votes among a group of 2500 people elected the new definition of "Planet" and the new classification "Pluto Class Objects" was passed by 237 of 2500 people.

Chris and everyone else has the right to refer to Pluto as a Planet

I am just chiming up in support of the opinions of Chris and others that have the same view

[bystander]

I find it strange (and rather sad) that Clyde Tombaugh's little world at the edge of the solar system, engrained in text books as the 9th planet for over 70 years, is suddenly demoted by new definitions of "What is a planet".

Ceres was a planet before Neptune and Pluto were ever discovered and then got demoted to asteroid.

[BMAONE23]

I guess we've just had a ceres of demotions

[makc]

The rest was entirely my grandfather’s work

humm that rings a bell

[apodman]

that rings a bell

http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/Ring_the_bell

[apodman]

I guess we've just had a ceres of demotions

emoticon
demoticon

[aristarchusinexile]

Scientifically, there's no more use for a rigid definition of "planet" than there is for "mountain". Both are actually much more useful when used in a general sense. There are quite a few astronomers who would be happy if the IAU simply dropped their definition completely- something that is distinctly possible at their next meeting.

I think not having a definition for planet, if that's what you're saying might happen, will create confusion.

[aristarchusinexile]

I guess we've just had a ceres of demotions

emoticon
demoticon

Clever. and cool. 8) etc. Why is there no emoticon for etcetera? The Association demands an emoticon for etcetera

[Chris Peterson]

Scientifically, there's no more use for a rigid definition of "planet" than there is for "mountain". Both are actually much more useful when used in a general sense. There are quite a few astronomers who would be happy if the IAU simply dropped their definition completely- something that is distinctly possible at their next meeting.

I think not having a definition for planet, if that's what you're saying might happen, will create confusion.

Why? We went a very long time without a formal, scientific definition, and it didn't cause any confusion at all. The only confusion that has happened has been a result of the IAU definition. In part that's simply because it's a bad definition, but even a good one is likely to be problematic. How, for instance, do you deal with the fact that we always have new information coming in, as with extrasolar "planets"?

[apodman]

The Association demands an emoticon for etcetera

I made my own. I must have too much time on my hands.

Clever. and cool. 8) etc.

To insert this icon, include this text in your post:



Of course, this icon will only be available as long as I keep up the rent at the domain. And if I were I could substitute another graphic at any time in the future and it would appear wherever this one is called for. So to be safe, just copy it and store it to be called from a URL of your own choosing.

---

And then there's the Pluticon

[aristarchusinexile]

Scientifically, there's no more use for a rigid definition of "planet" than there is for "mountain". Both are actually much more useful when used in a general sense. There are quite a few astronomers who would be happy if the IAU simply dropped their definition completely- something that is distinctly possible at their next meeting.

I think not having a definition for planet, if that's what you're saying might happen, will create confusion.

Why? We went a very long time without a formal, scientific definition, and it didn't cause any confusion at all. The only confusion that has happened has been a result of the IAU definition. In part that's simply because it's a bad definition, but even a good one is likely to be problematic. How, for instance, do you deal with the fact that we always have new information coming in, as with extrasolar "planets"?

Don't argue with me Chris. What I say is the only statement necessary. There can be no other opinions, even unspoken. You have been told

And the 'etc.' emotitcon won't cut and paste .. you are truly Apeman.

[apodman]

And then there's the other Pluticon

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This ...



... is a graphic. It is not evil. It is done that way since actual text would have been rendered as instead of shown to you as text. So you have to type it, not copy and paste it. Sorry for the great hardship. If you really want to copy and paste the text for icon_etc.gif, icon_pluto.gif, or icon_pluto2.gif, just use the Quote button and copy the text from there. To copy the graphic for your own use (it can't be pasted into a post as far as I know), with a Windows OS right-click on the icon and select something like "Copy Image" or "Save Image As ..." from the popup menu. You can't expect a homemade icon that's a simple graphic to have the same functionality as one that's built into the phpBB program.

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you are truly Apeman

Just once I try to be nice, and that's the thanks I get.

[neufer]

that rings a bell

http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/Ring_the_bell

<<A campanile is, especially in Italy, a free-standing bell tower, often adjacent to a church or cathedral. The word derives from the Italian campanile, from campana (bell). The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa.>>

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<<The legendary [Leaning Tower of Pisa] experiment consisted in dropping two different weights simultaneously from the top of the Tower and supposedly recording their simultaneous arrivals on the ground... Well, one of Galileo's assistant, Vincenzio Viviani (1622-1703), did play a major role in this, but not in the way you might expect, as Viviani was not even around to witness the event, if it ever occurred! In 1654, a dozen years after Galileo's death, Viviani began writing the first biography of Galileo. He clearly embellished things a little... In particular, the narration of the experiment at the Leaning Tower of Pisa is usually considered a pure fiction, invented by Viviani.>>
...........................................
The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Alleged "Experiment"

<<Torre pendente di Pisa What the Italians call "la Torre pendente di Pisa" is a bell tower, whose seven bells were used until 1950. The architect Bonnano Pisano began its construction on August 9, 1173 in the Campo dei Miracoli (Pisa's "Field of Miracles"). When the building reached the 3rd level (about 10 years later), its leaning was already pronounced, and construction stopped for 90 years. The main tower was completed between 1275 and 1284 by Giovanni Di Simone, who compensated for the tilt by giving the building a slight banana shape. The architect Tommaso Pisano (son of Andrea Pisano) finally added the top belfry between 1350 and 1372. In Galileo's times, more than two centuries later, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was pretty much what it is today: A building rising 58.363 m above its foundations, with a 4 m overhang that would increase steadily (at a rate of about 1.2 mm per year) if it was not for regular heroic countermeasures...

Galileo's "famous experiment" at the Leaning Tower of Pisa probably never took place. Galileo himself never claimed to have performed the deed, and the fantastic decorum described by Viviani is even more unlikely. The experiment would have been largely inconclusive anyway, except to disprove the gross misconception [wrongly] attributed to Aristotle, according to which the speed of falling objects ought to be proportional to their weights. Galileo may have meant to do the grand experiment, but the idea probably occurred to him at a time when it could not be conveniently carried out, because he no longer lived next to the Tower: Galileo moved from Pisa to Padua in 1591. He had began to study falling bodies only two years earlier, in 1589.

Three years earlier, in 1586, the Dutch engineer Simon Stevin had already accomplished the key experiment by releasing simultaneously, from a height of 30 feet, two very different pieces of lead (1 pound and 10 pounds) and observing that the sounds of their impacts "could not be separated.

For the record, such experiments only "work" properly in a vacuum, where a feather and a ball of lead do fall at the same rate. Astronaut David R. Scott successfully performed Galileo's experiment (using a feather and a hammer) on the lunar surface, on August 2, 1971.

Other problems exist when conducting such experiments with the "technology" of Galileo's time, including a curious systematic error (due to muscle fatigue) when people are attempting to release simultaneously balls of different weights. A tribute to the observational skills of Galileo was that he recorded negative results to similar experiments which could be explained this way... So much for the simplicity of legendary "experiments".>>

[apodman]

There is also the story that Galileo actually dropped objects off the tower to measure the Eastward Deflection of Falling Bodies, which also would have proved inconclusive.

[makc]

This ...



... is a graphic. It is not evil. It is done that way since actual text would have been rendered as instead of shown to you as text.

observe:
[img]http://j3000.com/x/apod/icon_etc.gif[/img]

[apodman]

observe:
[img]http://j3000.com/x/apod/icon_etc.gif[/img]

Good one. I'll remember that technique. I just hope the next version of phpBB doesn't treat it differently (as always seems to happen with my workarounds).

The orthodox way is to escape the bbcode by prepending the "[" with a "\", but it has never worked right - it escapes the code but often leaves the "\" as well. Not cool.

Another way is to check the "Disable BBCode" box where you compose your post. This works, but it is of no use when you want to mix bbcode (to be interpreted) and bbcode (to be rendered as written) in the same post.

Anyway, since I had a graphics program open to compose other graphics, I thought I'd use a graphic this time.

Do you know any more ways to escape bbcode?

[makc]

I think code tag prevents inner text from being bbcoded, let's see

Code: Select all

[img]http://j3000.com/x/apod/icon_etc.gif[/img]

:)

[apodman]

I think code tag prevents inner text from being bbcoded, let's see

Code: Select all

[img]http://j3000.com/x/apod/icon_etc.gif[/img]

:)

Works great. I thought it would. Too bad it comes with all that overhead. Kind of interrupts the flow if you insert it in the middle of a sentence.

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When I quoted your it came out ":idea:" until I inserted a space before it. Yes, bbcode is a crude thing.

[neufer]

There is also the story that Galileo actually dropped objects off the tower
to measure the Eastward Deflection of Falling Bodies, which also would have proved inconclusive.

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<<Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis (21 May 1792 – 19 September 1843) was the first to coin the term "work" for the transfer of energy by a force acting through a distance. Coriolis's papers do not deal with the atmosphere or even the rotation of the earth, but with the transfer of energy in rotating systems like waterwheels. Coriolis's name began to appear in the meteorological literature at the end of the 19th century, although the term "Coriolis force" was not used until the beginning of the 20th century. Although the name Coriolis has become strongly associated with meteorology, but all major discoveries about the general circulation and the relation between the pressure and wind fields were made without knowledge about Gaspard Gustave Coriolis.

Coriolis was born & he died in Paris.>>

---------------------------------------------

<<Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868) was the son of a publisher in Paris. After an education received chiefly at home, he studied medicine, which, however, he speedily abandoned in favour of physics due to a fear of blood.

With A. H. L. Fizeau, Foucault carried out a series of investigations on the intensity of the light of the sun, as compared with that of carbon in the arc lamp, and of lime in the flame of the oxyhydrogen blowpipe; on the interference of infrared radiation, and of light rays differing greatly in lengths of path; and on the chromatic polarization of light. In 1850, he did an experiment using the Fizeau–Foucault apparatus to measure the speed of light; it came to be known as the Foucault–Fizeau experiment, and was viewed as "driving the last nail in the coffin" of Newton's corpuscle theory of light when it showed that light travels more slowly through water than through air.

In 1851, he provided the first experimental demonstration of the rotation of the Earth on its axis. This was achieved by considering the rotation of the plane of oscillation of a freely suspended, long and heavy pendulum in the Panthéon in Paris. The experiment caused a sensation in both the learned and popular worlds. In the following year he used (and named) the gyroscope as a conceptually simpler experimental proof.

In September, 1855, he discovered that the force required for the rotation of a copper disc becomes greater when it is made to rotate with its rim between the poles of a magnet, the disc at the same time becoming heated by the eddy current or "Foucault currents" induced in the metal.

In 1857, Foucault invented the polarizer which bears his name, and in the succeeding year devised a method of testing the mirror of a reflecting telescope to determine its shape. The so-called "Foucault Test" allows the worker to tell if the mirror is perfectly spherical, or if it deviates from a sphere. Prior to Foucault's invention, testing reflecting telescope mirrors was a "hit or miss" proposition. With Charles Wheatstone’s revolving mirror he, in 1862, determined the speed of light to be 298,000 km/s (about 185,000 mi./s) —10,000 km/s less than that obtained by previous experimenters and only 0.6% off the currently accepted value.

In 1865, Foucault showed how, by the deposition of a transparently thin film of silver on the outer side of the object glass of a telescope, the sun could be viewed without injuring the eye.>>

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<<Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (October 14, 1801 – September 15, 1883) was a Belgian physicist who conducted extensive studies of soap films and formulated Plateau's laws which describe the structures formed by such films in foams.

Fascinated by the persistence of luminous impressions on the retina, he performed an experiment in which he gazed directly into the sun for 25 seconds. Consequently, he lost his eyesight later in his life.>>

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By January 1638 GALILEO was totally blind.

On September 1640 John MILTON called on the blind GALILEO in Arcetri
near Florence where the astronomer had been confined by papal order.

In his Areopagitica (1644) MILTON described GALILEO as a heroic victim:
"This was it which had damped the glory of Italian wits .
.. nothing had been there written now these many years
but flattery and fustian.">> - The Discoverers Daniel Boorstin
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By 1652, MILTON, himself, was totally Blind.
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[makc]

Sorry to bump ridiculously old thread, but this chart as awesome:



Oh yeah, if you really think you have something to say about it, read 60+ comments first