Gabriel Lippmann

Biography

Resulting from a French family, Gabriel Lippmann is born with Hollerich with the Luxembourg. It makes its studies with Paris, with the Lycée Henri-Iv then with the National university where it enters in 1868. Raise shining but undisciplined, it fails the contest of aggregation. Its school course was very not successful, because it concentrated only on the disciplines which interested it and neglected the others. It leaves then in Germany for an official scientific expedition and works with Kühne and Kirchhoff in Heidelberg and with Helmholtz in Berlin.

Lippmann returns to Paris at the beginning of 1875, working first of all at his place then in the Sorbonne, it supports its thesis for the science doctorate entitled " relations between the electric phenomena and capillaires" July 24th. It then joined the Laboratoire of physical research of Jules Jamin, attached to the practical École of the high studies, until its nomination as lecturer to the Faculty of Science of Paris in 1878.

In 1883, it is named full professor of the pulpit of probability theory and mathematical physics to the Faculty of Science of Paris, succeeding Charles Briot, then in 1886 professor of general physics and directing of the Laboratoire of physical research, succeeding Jules Jamin, and it is Henri Poincaré which replaces it with the pulpit of mathematical physics. The same year, he is elected with the Academy of Science, to replace Paul Desains (G. Lippmann 31 votes, Henri Becquerel 20 votes), academy which he chaired in 1912. He is honorary president of the French company of photography of 1897 to 1899, succeeding Etienne-Jules Marey, and takes part in the creation of the Institute of optics theoretical and applied (SupOptique).

Lippmann worked in many fields as in electricity, Thermodynamique, Optique and Photochimie. With Heidelberg, he studied the relationship between the electric and capillary phenomena. He is the origin of the invention of the capillary electrometer, used in the first electrocardiographs and of the Coelostat, instrument compensating for the rotation of the Earth and making it possible to photograph an area of the sky made apparently fixed.

He invented the process of Photographie colors Lippmann, which to date remains (2005) the only one with being able to fix the whole of the colors of the spectrum instead of making of it a trichromatic decomposition (which for its part is irreversible). The process, which fixes the interference rings of the light, is expensive (use of mercury) and takes an important exposure time, but (2006) was not to date exceeded in quality. There remains in particular the only one to allow a chromatographic analysis supplements a posteriori fixed colors, which is by impossible nature with the trichromatic processes.

One can see a Lippmann photograph with the Palais of Discovered the, section of optics (first stage).

Photographs

Professor Lippmann had developed the general theory of his process of photographic reproduction of the colors in 1886 but it was presented only in 1891. This process rests on an interferential method. In 1893, it could present to the academy photographs taken by the Frères Light in which the colors were produced with a excellent Orthochromatisme. It published its theory supplements in 1894. To fix the colors, it uses a glass plate covered with a photosensitive emulsion containing Silver nitrate and Potassium bromide. At the time of the catch of sight, the sensitive layer is placed in contact with mercury. On the surface of mercury standing waves are formed which make react the sensitive layer according to minimas and maximas of intensity correspond to the bellies and the nodes of the standing waves. Thus allowing to reproduce the colors in a direct, and nonindirect way like one does it with the trichromatic Synthèse usually used today.

This process should not be confused with that of the Autochrome S of the same brothers Lumière, more known, and who offered to us images colors of the end of the 19th century. This last process functioned for its part with Pigment S.

External bonds

Biographical note on the official site of the Nobel Prize
the interferential photography of Lippmann, perfect and forgotten method reproduction of the colors by Daniel Girardin.

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