The Peaucellier–Lipkin linkage occupies a very important place in the history of kinematics of mechanics, it being the first planar linkage consisting only of revolute joints, that was capable of transforming rotary motion into perfect straight-line motion, and vice versa. It is named after its iventors,  Charles-Nicolas Peaucellier , a French army officer, and Yom Tov Lipman Lipkin, who came upon the idea indepent of each other. Lord Kelvin, upon seeing the mechanism, described it as "the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life".