Léon Foucault Biography

Leon Foucault was a renowned scientist of the nineteenth century who discovered the Eddy currents. Born in France, Leon was received most of his education from a private tutor at home. The early demise of his father forced his family to move to Nantes. Suffering from constant illness he was a fragile kid who lacked self-confidence. A shy Leon was a lazy student but he had a knack with machines. On his mother’s insistence, who realized his sleight of hands, he initially started out studying medicine but eventually went on to pursue physics as he had a phobia of the blood. During his association with his mentor Alfred Donne, he was involved in experiments related to photography. He devised a method of imaging microscopic specimens and designed a powerful source of light for illuminating the objects being pictured through the microscope. Over the years this erudite scientist made several path-breaking discoveries which include the experimental proof that the earth’s rotation causes day and night. Dabbling with electromagnetism, Leon discovered Eddy Currents which are produced by a fluctuating magnetic field inside the conductor. During his relatively short career as a scientist Foucault made remarkable discoveries and is regarded as one of the most brilliant scientific minds of his era. Read on to know more about his life and works.