Pardon My Pendulum

Boring sermons lead to great discoveries.

The story is told that in 1582, while listening to the monotone of the priest in the Cathedral of Pisa, my friend and yours, Galileo Galilei noticed something above his head. No, it wasn’t Mary descending to bless the service…it was the chandelier. The light breeze in the huge space caused the lights to swing ever so slightly. Galileo, suddenly transfixed, began to use his own pulse to time the swinging motion. This simple observation would lead to his insistence that the pendulum could be used to correct the defects in clocks of his day. The pendulum was on its way to becoming the star of the next three centuries helping business run…well like clockwork…and reminding husbands that they were late for dinner…again.