Mark Streitman at the
National Science Teachers Association Convention
Forrest M. Mims III
Mark
Streitman, President of the New
Jersey Chapter of the Society for Amateur Scientists,
spoke on "The
Foucault Pendulum from the First SAS Conference to a
Commercial Product at the January 2005 Citizen Scientists
Conference. He described in detail the design of a novel
electronics controller and improved suspension apparatus
for a commercial Foucault pendulum that he said would
be available for the school market.
Mark followed through on his promise
in a big way by exhibiting his commercial Foucault Pendulum
at the annual meeting of the National Science Teacher's
Association in Dallas, Texas, in March (Fig. 1). I learned
about this when I was there to represent Onset Computer's
Hobo data loggers. While walking through the huge exhibit
hall one afternoon, I was very surprised to see Mark
at his exhibit (Fig. 2).
Mark Streitman's pendulum is superbly
designed and attractive to look at. His project is an
intriguing example of a citizen scientist carrying a
project completely to the commercial stage. While the
Foucault Pendulum seems simple enough, Mark worked very
long hours developing the electronic circuitry and the
suspension apparatus necessary for the apparatus to
really work. The end result is an attractive device
perfectly suited for the classroom--or a museum exhibit,
waiting room, business office or even a living room.
Congratulations, Mark. May other citizen
scientists join you in following the noble tradition
of bringing scientific apparatus to market so that students
and others can learn from and even make discoveries
with them.
Mark's commercial pendulum was inspired
by Dr. John W. Dooley's of Millersville University.
For more details, see Physics Experiment of the Month
No. 35, A
Short, Driven, Foucault Pendulum. This site is
maintained by the prolific and clever Dr. Dooley, who
has published numerous experiments in The Citizen
Scientist, including a nicely illustrated version
of A
Short, Driven, Foucault Pendulum. 
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