Seeing Foucault's Pendulum
Language: English
Published by Zone Books, US, 2025
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: Rarewaves USA, HEBRON, KY, U.S.A.Rarewaves USA
AbeBooks seller since June 10, 2025
Condition: New
£ 27.96
Quantity: 6 available
Add to basketSeller Inventory # LU-9781945861062
- Title
- Seeing Foucault's Pendulum
- Author
- Michael Hagner
- Publisher
- Zone Books, US
- Publication year
- 2025
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1945861061
- ISBN 13
- 9781945861062
An investigation of a cosmic experiment
In 1851, the physicist Léon Foucault performed an unforgettable experiment. By suspending a large pendulum inside the dome of Paris’ Pantheon, Foucault provided the first simple, direct empirical evidence of the Earth's rotation—an undeniable demonstration of heliocentrism. This experiment, conducted long after the Copernican Revolution and using a laboratory apparatus rather than astronomical observation, visually confirmed what had previously been accepted as theory. The pendulum’s motion clearly illustrated the Earth's rotation. But Foucault’s experiment did not end there. It sparked a range of subsequent reenactments and interpretations, each adding new layers to its meaning. Repeated over and again, its afterlives were many as were its ramifications.
Historian Michael Hagner revisits this epoch-making experiment and its reception from the nineteenth century to the present day and follows how cosmological questions conjoined political and aesthetic judgments about the public staging and history of science. The pendulum experiment, Hagner argues, is more than just a mere scientific demonstration. It contains within it the histories of technological innovation, ideological conflicts, and the rise of popular culture and visual media. In a series of insightful studies of literary, artistic, and scientific reenactments, Hagner uses both words and images to narrate the rich and complex legacy of this experiment.
Seeing Foucault's Pendulum includes among other fascinating tales, a short but stunning history of the Copernican Revolution, the paradigm-shifting work of the nineteenth-century astronomer Camille Flammarion, and the reenactments of Foucault’s experiment at the Smithsonian Institution and New York’s United Nations building. Linking nature to culture and calling for world unity, the experiment’s legacy extends beyond science. It has been reimagined in Umberto Eco’s novel Foucault’s Pendulum and in Gerhard Richter’s 2018 installation, enchantments of the postmodern world theater where the relationship between knowledge and sensory experience is problematized anew. A complex symbol in the history of ideas—challenging our assumptions, inspiring artistic expression, and prompting philosophical reflection on our place in the cosmos—Foucault’s experiment serves as a powerful reminder that both the Earth and the universe should never be reduced to a disposable mass of human hubris and of irresponsible manipulation.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 13 to 14 business days | 13 to 16 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 0.00 |
Payment methods
Seller's business information
Rarewaves USA
10100 West Sample Road, Ste 101
Coral Springs, FL U.S.A. 33065
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Rarewaves USA, Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
Please note that we do not offer Priority shipping to any country.
We currently do not ship to the below countries:
Afghanistan
Bhutan
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Channel Islands
Chile
Israel
Lao
Mexico
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Yemen
Please do not attempt to place orders with any of these countries as a ship to address - they will be cancelled.