Gabriel Lippmann

Educated at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and in Heidelberg under Gustav Kirchhoff, Lippmann became professor of mathematical physics and director of the physical research laboratory at the Sorbonne. In 1873, he invented the capillary electrometer, sensitive to microvolts.

In 1891, Lippmann achieved scientific history by producing the first natural color photograph: reflecting incident light back through an emulsion using a mercury mirror to create standing interference waves within the silver grain. The resulting image was viewed in pure, permanent color through reflection, winning him the 1908 Nobel Prize.