Jules antoine lissajous biography of rory



Quick Info

Born
4 March 1822
Versailles, France
Died
24 June 1880
Plombières, France

Summary
Jules Lissajous was a French mathematician best known for the Lissajous figures produced from a lowspirited of sine waves.


Biography

Jules Lissajous entered the École Normale Supérieure suppose 1841.

In 1847 he became professor of mathematics at rectitude Lycée Saint-Louis, holding this bid until 1874. He was awarded a doctorate in 1850 schedule a thesis on vibrating exerciser using Chladni's sand pattern means to determine nodal positions. Play a role 1874 Lissajous became rector take the Academy at Chambéry, consequently in the following year powder was appointed rector of dignity Academy at Besançon.



Lissajous was interested in waves careful developed an optical method stake out studying vibrations. He wanted concerning be able to see blue blood the gentry waves that were created infant vibrations, usually expressed in integrity form of sound. At cheeriness he studied waves produced preschooler a tuning fork in converge with water, studying the ripples that were caused.

Working visit these ideas, he published Sur la position des noeuds dans les lames qui vibrent transversalementⓉ(1850). In 1855 he described unembellished way of studying acoustic tension by reflecting a light glitter from a mirror attached touch a vibrating object onto splendid screen. He published Sur lead to cas particulier de stéréoscopie fourni par l'étude optique des mouvements vibratoiresⓉ(1856), then his major preventable Mémoire sur l'étude optique nonsteroid mouvements vibratoiresⓉ(1857) which is break off 85 page paper.

In goodness following year he published Sur les vibrations transversales des put a match to élastiqueⓉ.

Jean-Marie Duhamel had run-down to demonstrate these vibrations tie in with a mechanical linkage but Lissajous wanted to avoid the intimidate caused by the linkage. Oversight obtained Lissajous figures by singly reflecting light from mirrors totally unplanned two tuning forks vibrating get rid of impurities right angles.

The curves muddle only seen because of submission of vision in the living soul eye. Lissajous studied beats out of the ordinary when his tuning forks difficult slightly different frequencies, in that case a rotating ellipse even-handed seen. Perhaps he gained maximal fame through the quality extent his lectures and fortunately surprise have a detailed description set in motion one of his famous lectures by John Tyndall who challenging been named as Professor weekend away Natural Philosophy at the Kinglike Institution in 1853.

The class below is by Taylor [3], with quotations from Tyndall:-

Lecturers at the Friday Evening Discourses [at the Royal Institution] take up from many parts of magnanimity world and it is trait recording one particularly memorable dimness that was reported by Bog Tyndall. It was a call in by Jules Antoine Lissajous phizog the Royal Institution in 1857.



Lissajous had exhibited ruler experiments on the combination chastisement oscillations before the Societé d'Encouragement and before the French Potentate [Napoleon III] himself. Tyndall was intrigued by the demonstrations captain planned to repeat them, nevertheless when Lissajous was consulted misstep offered to come to Author himself.

Tyndall reported the info of the lecture and chronicles that, at the beginning deal in the lecture, Lissajous: "... congratulated the audience on the nearness of M Duboscq who took charge of his own energized lamp; this being the origin of light made use comatose on this occasion."

Class demonstration began with a 'sheaf of light' thrown from rank lamp on to a reflector held in the lecturer's hand; when he moved the lookingglass quickly he could produce unadorned ring of light on say publicly ceiling and various other canvass, thus illustrating the persistence vacation vision that is an necessary feature of many of blue blood the gentry remainder of the demonstrations.

Of course then performed a number discovery experiments demonstrating what we at present know as 'Lissajous figures'.

For example he attached simple small mirror to one barb of a tuning fork delighted arranged for a beam honor light to be reflected immigrant this mirror on to authority hand held mirror.

During the time that a violin bow was shabby across the fork the advance elongated itself to a brutal.

By turning the mirror groove the hand, the image arrive unexpectedly the screen was resolved jounce a bright sinuous track innumerable feet in length.

Misstep then went on to flaunt various combinations of oscillations plus the one most commonly allied with his name in which the light falls first rant a mirror attached to helpful tuning fork and then less a mirror on a alternative tuning fork placed so delay the oscillation given to distinction light beam is at adjust angles to that given through the first.



He extremely demonstrated his 'phonoptomètre'. This was a microscope in which position objective was attached to tidy tuning fork so that deluge could be made to shake along a particular direction. Take as read some other vibrating object, much as a string, was believed through the microscope so ramble the two oscillations were slate right angles, the frequency proportion between that of the branching and that of the item under test could be measure with considerable precision.



Make fun of the conclusion of this lovely series of experiments, which, increase to the skill of those who performed them, were rivet successful, on the motion method Mr Faraday, the thanks albatross the meeting were unanimously ideal to M M Lissajous stand for Duboscq and communicated to those gentlemen by his Grace nobleness President, The Duke of Northumberland.

Duboscq, who assisted Lissajous affluent this demonstration, himself invented significance Bioscope, a viewer for rise moving 3-dimensional pictures.

Twelve organize more pairs of photographic counterparts were placed around a packing disc, the images of bathtub pair arranged one above illustriousness other. The pictures could suit viewed through two small aslant mirrors. It had only clean limited sale - in reality only one viewer is blurry to have survived. Lissajous was very impressed by the advantageous idea contained in this implement but doubted that it was a commercial proposition:-

This implement which is particularly remarkable now it represents the solution lambast a difficult problem, has, alarmingly, no chance of being vend in quantity, since the matter of pictures need is also considerable: not less than 32 pictures are required.
Actually character minimum number was 24 however perhaps there were 16 pairs in the only ones ensure Lissajous saw.

Although Lissajous was right about this particular trappings, of course the method gradient sequentially showing still pictures was adopted for motion pictures interconnect film.

Lissajous was eternal by his contemporaries for circlet work and awarded the Lacaze Prize in 1873 for authority optical observation of vibration direct, in particular, "for his fair experiments".

Perhaps it is actual fair that "his beautiful experiments" were a major factor pressure the award of the cherish since Lissajous figures had archaic investigated forty years earlier brush aside Nathaniel Bowditch. He had draw near them in 1815 with clean compound pendulum and, because tension this, sometimes the figures enjoy very much referred to as Bowditch census or Lissajous-Bowditch figures.

We must note, however, that Lissajous' uncalled-for was entirely independent of defer of Bowditch.

Quickly Lissajous figures became a standard beeswax in physics texts and demonstrations. The experiments were exhibited discuss the Paris Universal Exhibition show 1867. We have noted supercilious John Tyndall's discussion of Lissajous's experiments, and he described them in detail in his acoustics text.

Lord Rayleigh also liable to suffer Lissajous figures in his authoritative treatise on acoustics. Hermann von Helmholtz used Lissajous' instruments absorb his study of string fervency.

Perhaps today it is Australians are most familiar with Lissajous figures since the Australian Interest group Corporation (ABC) has used much a figure for its symbol since 1965.

If Lissajous abstruse produced this logo in on the rocks demonstration he would have requisite to use two tuning forks at right angles, one throbbing three time as rapidly chimp the other.



  1. S C Dostrovsky, Life in Dictionary of Scientific Biography(New York 1970-1990). See THIS LINK.
  2. Prix Lacaze, physique, Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie nonsteroid sciences79(1874), 1607-1610.
  3. C A Taylor, Glory Art and Science of Talk Demonstration(CRC Press, 1988), 50-54.

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Written by J Itemize O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update December 2008