Lippmann, Gabriel

Lippmann, Gabriel

▪ French physicist
born Aug. 16, 1845, Hollerich, Luxembourg
died July 13, 1921, at sea, en route from Canada to France
 French physicist who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1908 for producing the first colour photographic plate. He was known for the innovations that resulted from his search for a direct colour-sensitive medium in photography.

      Though born of French parents in Luxembourg, Lippmann grew up in Paris and was a bright but unruly student. Despite the fact that he never received his teacher's certificate, he was appointed professor of mathematical physics at the Sorbonne in 1883. He later was appointed head of the Sorbonne's Laboratories of Physical Research (1886).

      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). He also invented the coleostat, an instrument that allowed for long-exposure photographs of the sky by compensating for the Earth's motion during the exposure.

      In 1891 Lippmann revealed a revolutionary colour-photography process, later called the Lippmann process, that utilized the natural colours of light wavelengths instead of using dyes and pigments. He placed a reflecting coat of mercury behind the emulsion of a panchromatic plate. The mercury reflected light rays back through the emulsion to interfere with the incident rays, forming a latent image that varied in depth according to each ray's colour. The development process then reproduced this image, and the result, when viewed, was brilliantly accurate. This direct method of colour photography was slow and tedious because of necessarily long exposure times, and no copies of the original could be made. It never achieved popularity, therefore, but it was an important step in the development of colour photography.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • LIPPMANN, GABRIEL — (1845–1921), French physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Though born in Luxembourg, Lippmann spent most of his life in Paris. His association with the Annalesde chimie et de physique, for which he prepared summaries of the articles written in German …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Lippmann , Gabriel — (1845–1921) French physicist Born at Hollerich in Luxembourg, Lippmann was educated at the Ecole Normale in Paris. After conducting research in Germany he became professor of probability and mathematical physics at the Sorbonne in 1883. In 1886… …   Scientists

  • Lippmann,Gabriel — Lipp·mann (lēp mänʹ), Gabriel. 1845 1921. French physicist. He won a 1908 Nobel Prize for developing a method of reproducing colors by photography. * * * …   Universalium

  • Lippmann, Gabriel — ► (1845 1921) Físico francés. Fue premio Nobel de Física en 1908, por haber producido la primera fotografía en color …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Lippmann — Lippmann, Gabriel …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Gabriel Jonas Lippmann — Gabriel Lippmann Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lippmann. Gabriel Lippmann Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gabriel Lippman — Gabriel Lippmann Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lippmann. Gabriel Lippmann Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gabriel (Vorname) — Gabriel (hebräisch: גַּבְרִיאֵל; ursprünglich: „(Der Gott) El ist mein Held”, hebräisch „Gott ist mein Held”) ist ein männlicher Vorname und Familienname. Die weibliche Form des Namens ist Gabriele. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Etymologie 2 Varianten 3… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • LIPPMANN (G.) — LIPPMANN GABRIEL (1845 1921) Physicien français, Gabriel Lippmann, né à Hallerich (Luxembourg), fait ses études à l’École normale supérieure, puis à Heidelberg et à Berlin. Sa thèse, Relations entre les phénomènes électriques et capillaires… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Gabriel Lippmann — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Lippmann. Gabriel Lippmann Naissance 16 août 1845 Bonnevoie (Luxemb …   Wikipédia en Français

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