Étienne-Jules Marey

Étienne-Jules Marey (1830 to 1904) was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer, born in Beaune, whose work shaped cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation and cinematography. He began with blood circulation, heartbeat, respiration and muscle movement, and built precise instruments for the job, among them a wearable sphygmograph for measuring the pulse, developed in 1859 with Auguste Chauveau and the instrument maker Breguet. In the 1880s he turned animated photography into chronophotography, recording several phases of a movement on one photographic surface, and in 1890 published Le Vol des Oiseaux on the flight of birds. He also pioneered graphical methods for displaying and interpreting quantitative physiological data. His 1873 book La Machine animale appeared in English as Animal Mechanism.