Friday, 12 October 2012

Joseph Plateau - Pioneer


Joseph plateau (October 14, 1801 – September 15, 1883) was a Belgian physicist, known for inventing the stroboscope.  He was the first person to show an illusion of a moving image.

In 1832, Joseph Plateau and his sons introduced the phenakistoscope, also known as the spindle viewer. It was a device where Pictures on a disc were viewed through slots in the other, it appeared to move when the two discs were spun and viewed in a mirror. It was also invented by Simon von Stampfer of Vienna in the same year, who called his invention a stroboscope. Plateau's inspiration had come from the work of Michael Faraday and Peter Mark Roget. Michael Faraday had invented a device which had two discs that spun in opposite directions from one another. Joseph adapted Faraday's wheel into a toy, which he named the phenakistoscope.
Below, is a video of an example of a phenakistoscope. The spinning wheel creates the illusion of movement.
Josephs invention was successful for two years, until another invention was brought out which had better improvements. As the phenakistoscope was the first device of stop motion, I believe that it made a big impact towards the history of stop motion and it therefore influenced other inventors to create something better.

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