A gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity, built around a spinning wheel or disc whose axis of rotation is free to assume any orientation and, by conservation of angular momentum, resists tilting or rotation of its mounting. The German astronomer Johann Bohnenberger built an early instrument version in 1817, and the French physicist Leon Foucault named and popularized the device in 1852 while using it to demonstrate the Earth's rotation. Gyroscopes built on the same spinning-mass principle, and later on microchip MEMS and other operating principles, became central to inertial navigation, spacecraft attitude control and aircraft instruments, and now appear in everyday consumer electronics such as smartphones and game controllers.
Facts
Patent or First-Use DateNo contemporary patent covers Foucault's gyroscope; dated to the year of his 1852 demonstration, exact day not recorded, following the same convention live on the-printing-press entity. YearJohann Bohnenberger built an earlier similar instrument in 1817; Foucault named and popularized the gyroscope in 1852, the year recorded here. SignificanceApplications of gyroscopes include inertial navigation systems, such as in the Hubble Space Telescope, or inside the steel hull of a submerged submarine. 1 Sources
1. Gyroscope (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationFoucault's Gyroscope section, dating sentence
In 1852, Foucault used it in an experiment demonstrating the rotation of the Earth.
Foucault's Gyroscope section, naming sentence
It was Foucault who gave the device its modern name, in an experiment to see the Earth's rotation.
Introduction, applications
Applications of gyroscopes include inertial navigation systems, such as in the Hubble Space Telescope, or inside the steel hull of a submerged submarine.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Who gave the gyroscope its name and what did it show?
Leon Foucault named it in 1852 while using it to show the Earth's rotation.
Johann Bohnenberger built an early instrument version in 1817, but it was the French physicist Leon Foucault who named the device and popularized it in 1852. Foucault used it in an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. Later gyroscopes became central to inertial navigation, spacecraft attitude control and aircraft instruments.
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