The Life and Work of Joseph Plateau: Father of Film and Discoverer of Surface Tension

In 1835 Joseph Plateau (1801?C1883) was appointed Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Ghent University, Belgium. By then he was well known for his groundbreaking work on the aftereffect of light on the human retina, and he would go on to become the first person to produce moving images, for which he is considered to be the Father of Film. His greatest scientific achievement, however, was his discovery of surface tension.