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Jules Antoine Lissajous

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Jules Antoine Lissajous
Jules Antoine Lissajous, date and photographer unknown
Born(1822-03-04)4 March 1822
Died24 June 1880(1880-06-24) (aged 58)
NationalityFrench
Known forLissajous figures
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

Jules Antoine Lissajous (French pronunciation: [ʒyl ɑ̃twan lisaʒu]; 4 March 1822 in Versailles – 24 June 1880 in Plombières-les-Dijon) was a French physicist, after whom Lissajous figures are named. Among other innovations, Lissajous invented the Lissajous apparatus, a device that creates the figures that bear his name. In it, a beam of light is bounced off a mirror attached to a vibrating tuning fork, and then reflected off a second mirror attached to a perpendicularly oriented vibrating tuning fork (usually of a different pitch, creating a specific harmonic interval), onto a wall, resulting in a Lissajous figure. This led to the invention of other apparatus such as the harmonograph.

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References

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  • O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Jules Antoine Lissajous", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews