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 Gyroscope - History of the Gyroscope
Jean Bernard Leon Foucault
Leon Foucault (1819-1868), a 19th-century French scientist and physicist, is responsible for giving the name gyroscope to a wheel or rotor mounted in gimbal rings -- i.e. a set of rings that permit it to turn freely in any direction. Leon Foucault named his gyroscope in 1852. The gyroscope was used by Foucault as a tool to study the earth's rotation.

A year earlier (1851) Leon Foucault invented the Foucault pendulum which he used to measure the Earth's rotation. Among his other achievements: in 1850, Foucault proved that light traveled more slowly in water than in air; and in 1858 Foucault made an improvement to the mirrors used in reflecting telescopes.

Gyroscope Definition
Howstuffworks "How Gyroscopes Work"

Elmer Sperry - Sperry Gyroscope
Gyroscope Compass: History of Sperry Marine
Biographies on inventor Elmer Sperry and the history of gyroscope compasses.
Elmer Sperry - Sperry Gyroscope
Elmer Sperry invented the gyroscopic compass or Sperry Gyroscope.
Elmer Ambrose Sperry
Elmer Sperry invented gyroscope guided automatic pilots for ships, airplanes, and spacecraft.

Charles Stark Draper
Charles Stark Draper
Charles Draper invented a gyroscope that stabilized and balanced gunsights, bombsights and for launching long-range missiles.

Related Innovations
Nautical Inventions
Compass

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