The country’s third longest Foucault pendulum is in Philadelphia‘s Franklin Institute. It proves that the Earth is round and turns on an axis. The Pendulum appears to change direction while in reality the Earth is the one spinning and the pendulum maintaining a constant direction.
The museum is named after Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general of the US and a Philadelphia resident. He made inventions like the lightning rod after experimenting with a kite in the thunderstorm and built the first battery with Leyden jars.
Other notable exhibits include the first mass produced aircraft an original Wright Brothers Model B from 1911, the only surviving Stephenson’s Rocket steam engine in America from 1838, a giant beating heart that visitors can walk into, and a tesla coil that activates every hour on the hour.
The Your Brain exhibit is a new addition to the museum and has a different approach to tradition science museums. It explains how the human brain works in processing input, sending signals, and identifying images through everyday examples that doesn’t insult the visitor’s intelligence. It is the only gallery suitable for all ages.
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