Gand, 21 7bre 1863
Mon Cher Monsieur Tyndall
J’ai l’honneur de vous adresser trois exemplaires de mon dernier mémoire; j’espère que vous voudrez bien accepter l’un d’eux, et offrir le second, de ma part, à la Société Royale, et le troisième à l’Institution Royale.
Dans ce travail, j’ai résolu une question qui a dû se présenter déjà, je pense, à l’esprit des physiciens, mais qui n’avait jamais été traitée, à ma connaissance du moins. Malheureusement j’arrive à une solution absolument négative; Toute fois cette solution me paraît assez [curieuse] en elle-même pour exciter l’attention des savants.
Agréez, Mon Cher M. Tyndall, l’assurance de mes sentiments d’affection. | J. Plateau.
Ghent, September 21st 1863
My dear Mr Tyndall,
I have the honour of sending you three copies of my latest article;2 I hope that you would kindly accept one of them, offer the second, on my behalf, to the Royal Society, and the third to the Royal Institution.
In this work I resolved an issue that physicists, I believe, must have already been aware of, but which has never been dealt with, at least to my knowledge. Unfortunately, I arrived at an utterly negative solution; nevertheless that solution seemed to me [curious] enough in itself to merit the attention of scientists.
Please accept, my dear Mr Tyndall, the assurance of my affectionate regards. | J. Plateau.
RI MS JT/1/P/96
Joseph Plateau: Joseph Plateau (1801–83), a Belgian physicist. Born in Brussels, Plateau studied at the University of Liège, where he graduated in 1829 with a doctorate degree in mathematics and physics. In 1832, Plateau invented a device which could give the illusion of a moving image, which he called the phenakistoscope. In 1835, he was appointed professor of experimental physics at the University of Ghent. Plateau is best known for his experimental work in which he investigated what is now known as the ‘Plateau Problem’; from 1840, he conducted experiments to demonstrate that a minimal surface could be formed from a soap film, made of a solution of soapy water and glycerine, which was stretched on a wire frame (CDSB).
my latest article: J. Plateau, ‘Réponse aux observations présentées par M. Chevreul’, Comptes rendus, 57 (1863): p. 1029–32.
Please cite as “Tyndall2037,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on