the intersections of revolving curves (locus), the observation of the distortion of moving images, and the reconstruction of distorted images through counter revolving discs (he dubbed these anorthoscopic discs). In 1832, Plateau invented an early stroboscopic device, the "phenakistiscope", the first device to give the illusion of a moving image. It consisted of two disks, one with small equidistant radial windows, through which the viewer could look, and another containing a sequence of images. When the two disks rotated at the correct speed, the synchronization of the windows and the images created an animated effect. The projection of stroboscopic photographs, creating the illusion of motion, eventually led to the development of cinema. Plateau's problem Plateau also studied the phenomena of capillary action and surface tension. The mathematical problem of existence of a minimal surface with a given boundary is named after him. He conducted extensive studies of soap films and formulated Plateau's laws, which describe the structures formed by such films in foams. Works In popular culture On 14 October 2019, the search engine Google commemorated Plateau with a Doodle on his 218th birth anniversary. This doodle was created by animator, filmmaker, and Doodler Olivia Huynh with inspiration and help from Diana Tran and Tom Tabanao. It is the first Google Doodle with different artwork showing up across different device displays—desktop, mobile, and the Google App. See also Patterns in nature Plateau's laws Plateau's problem Plateau–Rayleigh instability Soap bubble Stretched grid method References Biographical references A commemorative paper of nearly 100 pages describing many aspects of his life and research, including a portrait of him and authored by his son in Law, Gustaaf Van der Mensbrugghe. A biographical paper on Joseph Plateau's son-in-law, collaborator and first biographer. External links and further reading Plateau-Rayleigh instability – a 3D-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulation 1801 births 1883 deaths Belgian physicists Blind academics Belgian blind people Flemish scientists Fluid dynamicists Academic staff of Ghent University Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Scientists from Brussels University of Liège alumni Scientists with disabilities