The Foucault pendulum at the Musée des Arts et Métiers

Clément Ader's Avion III at the Musée des Arts et Métiers.

The Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Industry) is a museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Industry), which was founded in 1794 as a depository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.

Since its foundation, the museum has been housed in the deserted priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in the rue Réaumur in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. Today the museum, which underwent major renovation in 1990, includes an additional building adjacent to the abbey, with larger objects remaining in the abbey itself.

The museum has over 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings in its collection, with 40,000 at the Paris site. Among its collection is an original version of the Foucault pendulum.

The museum appears in literature as the scene of the climax of the novel Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

The museum can be accessed by the Paris Métro station Arts et Métiers.

[edit] See also

• List of museums in Paris
• Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's fardier (a pioneering steam-powered road vehicle) is an exhibit

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

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• Official site (French)

Coordinates: 48°51′58″N 2°21′19″E / 48.86611°N 2.35528°E / 48.86611; 2.35528

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