In the late seventeenth century the southern deviation of freely falling bodies was regarded as adequate to prove the earth's axial rotation. More than a century later, Laplace's and Gauss's classical theories confined it beyond the boundary of any possible experimental observation. In the meantime, the southern deviation was present in almost every experimental trial, from Hook's until Hall's. In this article I will examine the long life and the agony of the southern deviation hypothesis. The study will allow us to examine the difficult relationship between theoretical and experimental points of view of this physical phenomenon.
The Southern Deviation of Freely Falling Bodies: from Robert Hook's Hypothesis to Edwin H. Hall's Experiment (1679-1902)
FIOCCA, Alessandra
1998
Abstract
In the late seventeenth century the southern deviation of freely falling bodies was regarded as adequate to prove the earth's axial rotation. More than a century later, Laplace's and Gauss's classical theories confined it beyond the boundary of any possible experimental observation. In the meantime, the southern deviation was present in almost every experimental trial, from Hook's until Hall's. In this article I will examine the long life and the agony of the southern deviation hypothesis. The study will allow us to examine the difficult relationship between theoretical and experimental points of view of this physical phenomenon.File in questo prodotto:
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