在Ernest E. Tschannen科学综合大楼的一楼大厅里，大学的福柯钟摆沿着它不断移动的路径轻轻地摆动。 （博彩平台/安德里亚·普莱斯）迪克西·里德
The gently moving jewel swaying inside the new Ernest E. Tschannen Science Complex is a Foucault pendulum – shiny and slow-swinging, it is a piece of old-world technology the likes of which have kept track of the earth's rotation for the last 168 years.
It’s a singular attraction in University's state-of-the-art Science Complex, which will experience the public spotlight during grand-opening ceremonies on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
活动于上午11点在校园东侧靠近美国河的综合大楼前开始。
钟摆是一个重达235磅的抛光黄铜“鲍勃”，像一个圣诞装饰品，用缆绳固定在高处的枢轴上。 它是一位前博彩平台物理学教授遗赠给该大学的。
这个钟摆被存放了好几年，后来才在一楼的科学综合大楼大厅找到了自己的家，悬挂在一块标有罗盘点的平板上。 它位于萨克拉门托州立天文馆的入口附近，这是新设施的一个很受欢迎的特征。
The pendulum revolves a full 360 degrees, in the opposite direction of the Earth’s west-to-east movement.
“The Foucault pendulum was the first-ever direct evidence that the Earth spins on its axis,” said Chris Taylor, professor and chair of the Department of Physics & Astronomy. “People were pretty sure for hundreds of years that the Earth was spinning but couldn’t prove it, because it looked like the sky was moving around them.”
In 1851, French scientist Léon Foucault published findings of his revolutionary pendulum experiment, ending 200 years of attempts to demonstrate the planet’s movement.
“The pendulum swings back and forth and looks like it’s changing direction, but it’s the Earth spinning,” Taylor said. “The plate below is marked north, south, east, and west. If you come back in a couple of hours, you can see how far the pendulum has moved since the last time you saw it.”
胡建元出生于中国，曾在台湾和密苏里大学接受教育，1992年从博彩平台退休，此前他担任了26年的物理学教授。 他于2001年12月去世，将近200万美元的遗产遗赠给了哈佛大学。 钱湖物理基金每年为优秀的物理专业学生提供奖学金。
Hu had stipulated that endowment income be used to purchase a Foucault pendulum to hang in 囊状态’s new science building, whenever it was built.
“We bought the pendulum from the California Academy of Sciences 10 or 15 years ago,” Taylor said. “It’s been sitting in storage, waiting for us to have a place to put it.
“Professor Hu was interested in the history and philosophy of science. It’s pretty obvious now, especially after sending astronauts into space, that the Earth is spinning, but in the 1800s and before, how would you know?”
Magnets power the pendulum’s motor, which is housed in what resembles a glass-sided space capsule on the second-level roof terrace, and the pendulum is suspended below.
It hangs in relatively open space, unencumbered by any partitions, positioning that has enticed some people to reach out and touch it – to ill effect. 触摸鲍勃会在它闪亮的表面留下痕迹，更重要的是，会打断它的摆动路径。
“We hope that no one touches the pendulum and gets fingerprints all over it,” Taylor said. “If it’s knocked out of adjustment, we have to stop it for about a half-hour and restart it.”
而地球却一直在旋转。
编者注：由于编辑错误，这个故事的早期版本错误地指定了钟摆完成360度运动所需的时间。 这种运动的时间是不同的。