Joseph Plateau

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Joseph Plateau

Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (October 14, 1801 – September 15, 1883) was a Belgian

Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many Physics#Major fields of physics spanning all length scales: from atom particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole ....
.

Born in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
, he studied at the University of Liège

University of Liège

The University of Li?ge , in Li?ge , Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French ....
(Liège

Liège (city)

Li?ge is a major Walloon Region city and Municipalities in Belgium in Belgium located in the Provinces of Belgium of Li?ge , of which it is the administrative capital....
), where he graduated as a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences in 1829. In 1835, he was appointed Professor of experimental physics in Ghent University

Ghent University

Ghent University is one of the three large Flanders university. It is located in the historic town of Ghent in Flanders, the Dutch language-speaking part of Belgium....
. In 1836, Plateau invented an early stroboscopic

Stroboscope

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Encyclopedia

Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (October 14, 1801 – September 15, 1883) was a Belgian

Belgium

Physicist

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
, he studied at the University of Liège

University of Liège

The University of Li?ge , in Li?ge , Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French ....
(Liège

Liège (city)

Ghent University

Stroboscope

A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. The principle is used for the study of Rotation, Reciprocation, oscillation or vibration objects....
device, the "phenakistiscope". It consisted of two disks, one with small equidistant radial windows, through which the viewer could look, and another containing a sequence of images. When the two disks rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows and the images created an animated effect. The projection of stroboscopic photographs, creating the illusion of motion, eventually led to the development of cinema

Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
.

Plateau also studied the phenomena of capillary action

Capillary action

Capillary action, capillarity, capillary motion, or wicking refers to two phenomena:# The movement of liquids in thin tubes...
and surface tension

Surface tension

Surface tension is an attractive property of the surface of a liquid. It is what causes the surface portion of liquid to be attracted to another surface, such as that of another portion of liquid ....
(Statique expérimentale et théorique des liquides soumis aux seules forces moléculaires, 1873). The mathematical problem

Plateau's problem

In mathematics, Plateau's problem is to show the existence of a minimal surface with a given boundary, a problem raised by Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1760....
of existence of a minimal surface

Minimal surface

In mathematics, a minimal surface is a surface with a mean curvature of zero.These include, but are not limited to, surfaces of minimum area subject to various constraints....
with a given boundary is named for him. He conducted extensive studies of soap films and formulated Plateau's laws

Plateau's laws

Plateau's Rules describe the structure of soap films in forms. These rules were formulated in the 19th century by the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau from his experimental observations....
which describe the structures formed by such films in foams.

Fascinated by the persistence of luminous impressions on the retina

Retina

The vertebrate retina is a light sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera....
, he performed an experiment in which he gazed directly into the sun

Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
for 25 seconds. Consequently, he lost his eyesight later in his life. He died in Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region, Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys River and became in the Middle Ages one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe....
.