Oh, i love that thing! I was amazed by it, the first time i saw and understood what it does and how it works. We have one in Magdeburg, too. But it might be smaller, though.

Yep. Sisyphus, for those that don’t get the reference, is a character from Greek mythology (specifically mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey). He was a Corinthian king who, after annoying the gods, Zeus forced him to forever roll a big rock up a hill. When it got near the top, it always rolled back down; he had to start over.

And Foucault pendulums, for those that don’t get it, demonstrate the rotation of the earth. The pins are knocked down as the pendulum’s trajectory changes slightly with the earth’s spin. Actually the pendulum continues to move in the same direction it always had been, but the floor has rotated slightly underneath it. Pretty cool. 🙂