March 13, 1858
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmGravitation and Velocity
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
M. Boucheporn, of Paris, made an experiment in mechanics, and deduced from it that the force of gravitation varied according to the greater or less speed of the earth in its orbit. A member of the Academy of Sciences has, to all appearance, completely overthrown such a deduction. " If it were true," he says, "the change in the force of gravitation would amount to one 72d part, and it follows that every timepiece regulated by a pendulum, would be advances or retarded daily at the rate of 72 X 2=144th part of the number of seconds (8G,400) in twenty-four hours, which amounts to ten minutes. Every observatory t clock should therefore be disturbed to this ex-"X tent if such a deduction were true, because S, the earth is retarded and advanced to this ex-S tent in its orbit,"
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
