Table Of ContentEtienne-Jules Marey A Passion for the Trace
Google Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Zone Books • New York • 1992 Trensl ated by Robert Gelete with Jeeni ne Herman
Google Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Etienne-Jules Marey A Passion for the Trace Fran1yois Dagognet
--:::-
Google Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
oat
1K
8''-11
Roben G•le11 would like very much to th•nk M•nin Joughin
and Raymond Rushforth and especially Anne-Marie Cervera,
~1J1
Jane Sh•w •nd the students of the Veterinary School of Lyon.
, D331
Cl 1992 Un.one, Inc.
611 Broadway, Suite 608
{1qL
New York, NY 10012
All rights reserved.
No pirt of this book m1iy be. reproduced, stored in a retriev.1.I
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, lnclud•
ing elecnonic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording. or otherwise (except for th.J.t copying permitted by
Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press) without wriucn permission
from the Publisher.
Originally published in Frincc u EtienM-jules .4forc:r: Lo Ponion
de la tract, 0 1987 by Editions Maun.
Printed in the United States of America.
Distributed by The MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
Libr.uy of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Dagognct, Francois.
Eticnnc•Julcs Marcy : a passion for the trace/
Fran~ois Oagognct.
p. cm.
lndudcs bibliographical rc:fcrcncr-s and index.
ISH~' 0"'942299-""64•7 - 1S8!'1: 0•9·2299•65•5 (pipt-r)
1. Marcy. Edcnnc-Julcs, 1830-1904. 2. Chronophotography.
I. Title:.
TR84q.MJ7DJI 1992
770'.92- U(lO
Google Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
- -- -- - -·
,,.q,qL
:;;' s //,???
/",><;'I Contents
J.;;~93
Fore,vord 7
Preface
11
Early Principles 15
The Second Adventure 65
Repercussions and the Culture Industry
131
Conclusion 175
Notes 187
Bibi iography 199
Index
201
Google
Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Google
Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Foreword
This book aims to present the main features of the work of Etienne-Jules Marey and to
elucidate his methodology as well as his philosophy as a scientist. A few words are needed,
however, by way of a prologue, about Marey himself, as his life is something of an enigma.
Only particularly striking or odd aspects of Marey's life will be mentioned here, along
with anything that provides a better approach to the scientific work itself.
Marey was born in Beaune (Cote d'Or) on March ~. 1830, and from the outset was an
intriguing man. At birth he was registered with only the first name Etienne, and was bap
tized on May as Jules-Etienne. His parents and friends called him "Jules," as would the
2
plaque on the street named after him in Beaune: "Rue Jules-Marey, Physiologist, 1830-1904."
J.
When Marey later went to live in Paris, he al ways used the signature "E. Marey" or, on
rare occasions, "Etienne." Marey the scientist seems to separate himself from the Marey
whose origins were in Burgundy.
The young Jules Marey, only child of the bookkeeper Claude Marey (today he would be
called a "manager" or "sales manager") of Bouchard wines ofBeaune, received a careful,
religious education. It was his mother's fervent wish that he become a priest. He himself
wanted to be an engineer; this desire can be seen in the "Mr. Punch robot" he made as a
child with his lifelong friend Julien Bouchard (the son of his father's employers). His father's
advice was to triumph in the end: he dreamed of the Beaune hospital for his son and thus
pointed him in the direction of medicine.
Google Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
A PASSION F"OA TME TAACE
The son ,vho had ahvays shown true and loyal affection for his parents, as their letters
reveal, was a rapid and dazzling success. First in his class of student residents at the Paris
Hospital (in 1854), his medical thesis later won immediate notice in the highest circles: at
39 he succeeded Pierre Flourens at the College de France.
His ordination was complete but it is striking that he nonetheless returned, by way of
biology, to his first inclinations: engineering, invention and mechanism. Out of the field of
medicine that was advocated for him, he was to become the physicist that he ,vanted to be.
In 1870 he bought a villa near Naples. Recluse that he was, Marey stayed there for part of
the winter, spending the rest of the year in Paris or Beaune; more precisely, from 1874, in
the Domaine de la Folie, near Chagny. This Italian exile cannot be ignored; it was to mark
his work as his work would mark its period.
In Paris, where (after 1870) he would reside from spring until autumn, Marey often
changed residence: rue Cuvier, then rue de l'A ncienne Comedie and, finally, 11 boulevard
Delessert. In his various apartments, filled with homemade machines and appliances, includ
ing a merry-go-round, visitors were struck by the "science bazaar" in which the scientist
lived. He spoke of himself as a "physiologist working at home," "curio-hunter" and "medi
cal engineer." Jean-Baptiste Chauveau wrote, "Who, in the world of physiology of the time,
French or foreign, did not know of this curious and picturesque equipment?" In fact,
boulevard Delessert was ,vhere he was finally able to put an end to this cumbersome life
because he found himself close to the Physiological Station in the Pare des Princes where
he could devote himself unhindered to his experiments.
His situation was not unusual. Scientists in the nineteenth century often had to set up
their own school, equip their laboratory and work independently of any institution, even if
they became part of one at a later date. Marey did not escape this rule of"comparatively
amateurish beginnings."
Google
Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
F"OAEwOAO
Was his life dedicated solely to disinterested scientific research? Was it his only passion?
His biographer has been neither able nor willing to say; his existence remains impenetra
ble: "There is a totally unknown life of Marey, the thread of which I have been able to
guess through certain confidences I have caught. This private life which Marey adamantly
concealed shall not be entered into. ... Marey had to deal with many problems, jealousies
and accusations," writes Henri Savonnet. I shall leave the subject there, except to note that
•s,
in his will (he died on May 1904) Marey requested cremation and a civil funeral.
Moreover, it is not necessary to know about his life to understand his ,vork. I have
nonetheless tried to underline the constant dual track that it follo,ved: two distinct first
names indicating him; two homes between which he divided his time, Italy in winter and
France (Paris and Beaune) in summer; and two workplaces - an interior scientific or bio
logical space that quickly overflo,ved the laboratory walls to incorporate the flight of birds
in the air, the racing of horses on the track and, above all, the lapping of ,vaves on the beach.
His apartment was certainly transformed into a laboratory, but he worked just as much
outside in nature itself, where he was intent on recording the s,viftest of movements.
If his ,vork is likewise steeped in the same regular and thorough ambivalence or duality,
it also leads from one surprise to the next: logical, yet metamorphosing as it ,vent along, its
development would remain distinctly unforeseeable.
Google
Original from
Digitized by
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
