Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, father of LCDs, passes away

We'll admit, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes didn't exactly get the ongoing credit he deserved for spearheading discoveries that gave us the liquid crystal display, and it's with regret that we convey the news that he has indeed passed away at 74. Pierre-Gilles was born in Paris where he graduated from the elite Ecole Normale Superieure school after working in "neutron scattering and magnetism before moving to the realm of supraconductors and later to liquid crystals." He went on to take home the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1991, and was even dubbed the "Isaac Newton of our time" by some of the judges. Thankfully, much of his brilliance can still be enjoyed via his 1974 book "The Physics of Liquid Crystals," and while we're sure the context is way over our heads, we can certainly appreciate the end results of his unwearying work.

[tchiseen @ May 23rd 2007 12:53AM]

Vive la science!

[Zeus the God @ May 23rd 2007 12:55AM]

Well, damn. That sucks.

Thank you for my beautiful 22" high-definition LCD display, Pierre.

Vive la science!

[Paul @ May 23rd 2007 12:55AM]

that is one ugly tv developer

thanks for my 42 inch lcd tv though!

[zoyo.is.bored @ May 23rd 2007 1:10AM]

agdas

[DanielJForman @ May 23rd 2007 1:39AM]

D'accord!

Vive la science!

[Jesse S @ May 23rd 2007 1:40AM]

Thank you for my Dell 2407. :(

[Steven Rix @ May 23rd 2007 1:58AM]

He was a great guy, I met him in the 90s; he was able to explain very complicated things but next to the nature he was unable to explain very simple things.

[zed @ May 23rd 2007 6:12AM]

Respect.

[AKBlade13 @ May 23rd 2007 6:13AM]

Rest in peace man, you've done a great thing for the technology world.

AKBlade13

[pencap23 @ May 23rd 2007 6:41AM]

I'll say what we're all thinking...what a goofy looking smile.

I love my LCD, all 15"s of it! Thanks a lot!

[Tommy Mang @ May 23rd 2007 8:27AM]

Thanks Pierre for my 22" Samsung 226BW ;-)

[Richard Lai @ May 23rd 2007 8:53AM]

Why do good men die young? :(

[ph @ May 23rd 2007 9:50AM]

74 is not that young. Though I agree, it is a shame that he died, even though I am a plasma guy myself ;)

[Dave @ May 23rd 2007 3:34PM]

Just this morning, I reached over to turn my sleek, flat monitor towards me with just the push of a few fingers... At that moment I grinned and thought, "just like Picard in his ready room" Thanks Pierre-Gilles de Gennes!

[StreetStealth @ May 24th 2007 11:30AM]

Merci pour vos contributions à la monde de la technologie, M. de Gennes!




Also, am I the only one who sees this photo and thinks... "Greetings, miss-ter Freeman"?