Accession No

3998

Brief Description

Geometric gyroscope demonstration device, by Newton & Co., late 19th C

Origin

3 Fleet Street; London; England

Maker

Newton & Co

Class

physics; demonstration

Earliest Date

1875

Latest Date

1900

Inscription Date

Material

wood; brass (metal, steel); plastic

Dimensions

height 155mm; breadth 88mm; length 140mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Tessaract, Catalogue Spring 1992, item 40, in 1992.

Inscription

‘NEWTON & CO.
MAKERS
LONDON
3 FLEET ST’ (plastic disc set into base)

Description Notes

Brass supports mounted on a rectangular wooden base, one painted black. Lacquered brass gyroscope top of conical shape and three brass guide figures.
The spinning top follows endlessly the inner and outer guide surfaces and can also be used to demonstrate the rotational stability of the earth’s axis, the precession of the equinoxes and the nutation of the axis.

Condition good; complete.

References

Events

Description
Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819–1868), famous for inventing ‘Foucault’s pendulum’ to demonstrate the rotation of the earth, invented the gyroscope in 1852. The name gyroscope literally means “to view the turning”, and exploits the physical principle that a spinning mass maintains a constant direction. The device typically consists of a disk (rotor) with an axle through the centre, mounted in a gimbal-frame to allow movement in all directions. It can be used to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation or for measuring and maintaining orientation. The Americans and the Soviets used it in this way at the height of the Cold War, for the guidance systems in their submarines, missiles and aircraft.

Some believe that Foucault took the inspiration for the gyroscope from the ‘whirling speculum’ invention by Captain John Serson (d. 1744) that he created in the early 1740s. This device is thought to be the first that used the principle that a spinning mass maintains a constant direction.

21/05/2009
Created by: Nathalie Botcherby, edited by Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 21/05/2009

FM:40033