Pendulum Motion

I really enjoyed reading this article because I had no idea how important the pendulum is to our history! Of course I have used the pendulum in numerous science experiments, but have always taken it for granted. I knew that the pendulum could keep time, but never knew how significant it was to the effect of force on objects over time, the distance of fall over time, the change of speed over time, the radial movement of planets over time, and the progress of chemical reactions over time. Galileo was huge in the utilization of the pendulum and without him many would be set back in their findings on pendulums. He made four novel claims about pendulum motion the first being the Law of Length, the Law of Amplitude Independence, the Law of Weight Independence, and the Law of Isochrony. Pendulums were also very important for navigation of ships in regards to the lines of latitude and longitude. "Gemma Frisius, the Flemish astronomer, professor at Louvain University, and teacher of Mercator the map maker. In 1530, he proposed time-keeping as the solution to the problem of longitude. The Earth makes one revolution of 360 degrees in 24 hours. Thus, in one hour it rotates through 15 degrees, or 1 degree every four minutes." The pendulum is a marvelous device that is so simply yet to important to our natural history. Where would we be without the pendulum?