You’d be forgiven for not knowing who Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau is.
You most definitely know his legacy, though.
The Belgian physicist, whose phenakistiscope invention eventually led to the development of cinema, was born on this day in 1801.
To celebrate, Google Doodler Olivia Huynh created a mesmerizing animation that reflects Plateau’s style—with different imagery and themes on different devices.
Visit Google.com on a desktop or mobile browser and the Chrome app to experience three unique looping sequences.
“I enjoy Plateau’s broad range of interests,” Huynh said in a Google interview. “I think it’s a good message to show that you can be interested in lots of things, like science, math, art, invention, craft, and that they can overlap.”
Born in Brussels 218 years ago, Plateau was the son of an accomplished artist. After studying law, he became one of the best-known Belgian scientists of the 19th century, remembered for his study of physiological optics—particularly the effect of light and color on the human retina.
Plateau’s continued research led to the creation of the phenakistiscope in 1832.
The stroboscopic device used counter rotating disks—one filled with small windows, evenly spaced in a circle; the other with a series of drawn images—that, when turned at exactly the right speed, created the illusion of motion.
A cylindrical version, known as the zoetrope, was introduced in 1833, and later commercialized by Milton Bradley as a children’s toy.
Ironically, Plateau lost his eyesight later in life—an affliction that he attributed to an experiment in which he gazed directly into the sun for 25 seconds.
Still, he maintained a productive science career: In 1835, Plateau was appointed professor of experimental physics at Ghent University, where he worked alongside son Felix Plateau and son-in-law Gustaaf Van der Mensbrugghe.
Plateau died in September 1883 at the age of 81.
In his memory, Huynh hopes people will see today’s Doodles and “feel interested in the long history of animation and film.”
“Also, maybe people will try animating if they’re interested,” she added.
Each of Huynh’s three animations were completed using only 12 drawings.
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