2005-06-03

 

After lunch we all go to the Pantheon, one of the most recent great "churches" in France.  In fact it was built just before the Revolution and then quickly confiscated by the revolutionaries.  It was then set up as a temple to Republican values and heroes -- liberty, equality, fraternity.  We need remember also that one of those values was the role of science in bringing humanity to its fullest maturity.  The Pantheon is thus also home to some of France's greatest scientists, technologists, and explorers.  I'll mention two first:  Marie Curie, who discovered the principles of radioactivity, and Louis Braille who made reading readily accessible to the blind.  The pendulum above is that of Foucault, who used this great open dome to show that the world really rotated on its access.  Believe or not, you can see how it works right here every day!!!

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This page last updated on 2005-06-03 10:02:14 PM.