Gabriel Lippmann The Nobel Prize in Physics 1908

biography

Gabriel Lippmann was a giant of his day in the world of classical physics - a multi-talented researcher best known for his contributions to optics and electricity. His textbook on thermodynamics (the physics of heat in relation to other energy forms) was the standard reference in France. He invented the capillary electrometer, which measured small differences in voltage and was used in early electrocardiographs. His research in piezoelectricity and seismology furthered developments in those fields. Lippmann also invented the coelostat, a new astronomical tool that compensated for the earth's rotation and allowed a region of the sky to be photographed without apparent movement. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1908 for producing the first colour photographic plate. Gabriel Jonas Lippmann was born of French parents (Jewish origin) at Hollerich, Luxembourg on August 16, 1845. The family moved to Paris when he was still very young and he received his early education at home. In 1858 he entered the Lyc?e Napoleon and ten years later he was admitted to the ?cole Normale. He was a bright, but unruly student. His school career was not markedly successful, for he concentrated only on the work which interested him and neglected that which did not appeal to his taste, and he failed the examination which would have qualified him as a teacher. In 1873, he was appointed to a Government scientific mission visiting Germany to study methods for teaching science: he worked with K?hne and Kirchhoff in Heidelberg and with Helmholtz in Berlin.

Lippmann joined the Faculty of Science in Paris in 1878. Despite the fact that he never received his teacher's certificate, he was appointed Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Sorbonne in 1883. Three years later (1886) he became Professor of Experimental Physics, succeeding Jamin, and he was appointed Director of the Research Laboratory which was subsequently transferred to the Sorbonne. He retained this position until his death.

It is interesting to note that Gabriel Lippmann was the Marie Curie's thesis advisor, while he was the head of the physical science department at the Sorbonne, where Marie was studying. That time Lippmann did early studies in a field in which Pierre Curie and his brother were pioneers: electrical effects in crystals. A pillar of the French tradition of patronage, Lippmann let Marie use his laboratory for her thesis work and helped her find other sources of support. Marie made quite an impression on Lippmann, so he decided to introduce her to one of his best students, Pierre Curie. This made tremendous influence on Marie's and Pierre's future. Lippmann's scientific talents were varied, but he was best known for his contributions in the fields of optics and electricity. He did early, important studies of piezoelectricity (precursors of Pierre Curie's work) and of induction in resistanceless, or superconductive, circuits (precursors of Heike Kammerlingh-Onnes' validations).

In Heidelberg he studied the relationship between electrical and capillary phenomena: this led to the development, amongst other instruments, of his extraordinarily sensitive capillary electrometer. Gabriel Lippmann invented a capillary electrometer (also known as a Lippmann electrometer) in 1872. It is an instrument in which small electric currents are detected by movement of a mercury meniscus in a capillary tube. The instrument (shown left) consists of a thin glass tube with a column of mercury beneath sulphuric acid. The mercury meniscus moves with varying electrical potential and is observed through a microscope. This extremely sensitive instrument was emploied by Waller for the first measurements of electrocardiograms Professor Lippmann had evolved the general theory of his process for the photographic reproduction of colour in 1886 but the practical execution presented great difficulties. However, after years of patient and skilful experiment, he was able to communicate the process to the Academy of Sciences in 1891, although the photographs were somewhat defective due to the varying sensitivity of the photographic film. In 1893, he was able to present to the Academy photographs taken by A. and L. Lumi?re in which the colours were produced with perfect ortho-chromatism. He published the complete theory in 1894. In 1908 Gabriel Lippmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference." In his Nobel Prize presentation speech, Professor K.B. Hasselberg, the President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated that Lippmann’s methods were, “ doubtless fairly well known.” That was in 1908; today very few people know what Gabriel Lippmann actually did.

Lippmann's colour photographic technique was based on interference, the combining of different light waves arriving simultaneously at the same point - the same phenomenon that causes colour to appear in colourless substances such as soap bubbles. To receive the image, Lippmann used a glass plate costed on one side with light-sensitive emulsion, a mixture of gelatin, grains of silver nitrate, and potassium bromide. In the camera, the emulsion side of the plate faced a plate holder coated with mercury, which acted as a mirror. When the camera lens was opened, light was reflected from the objects in the lens's field of view through the lens to the emulsion-coated plate and through the plate to the mirror; the various wavelengths of this light corresponded to the various colours of the objects in the field of view. The incoming light was then reflected back into the emulsion by the mirror. When the incoming light waves and the light waves reflected by the mirror met on the surface of the emulsion, they created interference patterns in the silver grains of the emulsion. These patterns were then fixed on the plate by chemical baths. When the plate dried, the interference patterns reflected light in various wavelengths corresponding to the original colours of the photographic objects. Lippmann's process was an important experimental milestone although it proved impractical in photography because exposure times were too lengthy, the image had to be viewed at a precise angle to a light source, and it could not be reproduced.

Without Lippmann’s research it could have taken years or even decades to discover what was needed to represent colors and objects in their truest form. Because of Lippmann’s research we have the “Kodak moments,” all the joy that comes from reminiscing with friends and family over events of the past, and the colors and beauty of our first loves, pets, and houses. We are indebted to this man of science because of his dedication to his work, and the joy he brings us every day. Had it not been Gabriel Jonas Lippmann it probably would have been some one else, but who, when? Gabriel Lippmann greatly aided the technology we have today, by contributing his ideas of Color Photography almost one hundred years ago. That is why Professor Hasselberg concluded his speech with this statement: “Through sustained effort directed towards his end and through his complete grasp of all the resources that physics can offer, Professor Lippmann has created this elegant method of obtaining images which combine stability with colorific splendor. This achievement the Royal Academy of Sciences has considered worthy of the Nobel Prize for Physics for 1908.”

In 1895, Lippmann evolved a method of eliminating the personal equation in measurements of time, using photographic registration, and he studied the eradication of irregularities of pendulum clocks, devising a method of comparing the times of oscillation of two pendulums of nearly equal period. He died at sea on July 13, 1921, during his return from a journey to North America as a member of a mission headed by Marshal Fayolle. Gabriel Lippmann’s life was one quite similar to that of other scientists and inventors, but it was also very similar in the early stages to the life of a failure. The paramount thing that Gabriel Lippmann practiced was self-discipline. He did not want to achieve in certain areas, but in those, he did want to, he succeeded. Gabriel Lippmann endeared himself to professors and scientists throughout France, and in this way, he was able to advance in the career ladder. Even at seventy-six years of age, Gabriel Lippmann was pursuing scientific advancements. This is what sets him above most men.

free web hits counter

This is my BrainyGoose:
United States, IL, Chicago, English, Italian, Genry, Male, 21-25, bodybulding, swiming.