Figure timeline
Augustin-Jean Fresnel was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, fully supplanting Newton's corpuscular theory, from the late 1830s until the end of the 19th century. He is perhaps better known for inventing the catadioptric (reflective/refractive) Fresnel lens and for pioneering the use of "stepped" lense…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · French optical physicist (1788–1827) · physicist · civil engineer · engineer · also Augustin-Jean Fresnel, Frenel Ogyusten Jan, Fresnel, Augustin Fresnel
Born 10 May 1788 · Died 14 July 1827 · Q187241
27 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
10 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
Public attention spiked: 3,191 Wikipedia readers in one day, 38× the usual 84, with 3 article edits. Editors noted: Reverted 1 edit by Don Manic-Dweeb (talk) to last revision by GiantSnowman
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Verdet in 1866, and Léonor Fresnel in 1869, by which time only two of the three volumes had appeared
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lloyd published his Lectures on the Wave-theory of Light, in which he described Fresnel's transverse-wave theory as "the noblest fabric which has ever adorned the domain of physical science, Newton's system of the univer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Died 1827-07-14.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was awarded the society's Rumford Medal for the year 1824, "For his Development of the Undulatory Theory as applied to the Phenomena of Polarized Light, and for his various important discoveries in Physical Optics"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Assembled a small model for use on the Canal Saint-Martin
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1825).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fresnel unveiled the Carte des Phares (Lighthouse Map), calling for a system of 51 lighthouses plus smaller harbor lights, in a hierarchy of lens sizes (called orders, the first order being the largest), with different c
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fresnel extended his fixed-lens design by adding a rotating array outside the fixed array
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Rumford Medal (1824).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fresnel was made a chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Was advised that if he wanted to live longer, he needed to scale back his activities
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“s agent in Paris in September 1824. The journal failed before Fresnel”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Became one of the editors of the Société's Bulletin des Sciences
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ampère initially supposed that the field of a permanent magnet was due to a macroscopic circulating current
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Grand prix des sciences mathématiques (1819).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fresnel showed that this result could be explained by the wave theory, on the hypothesis that if an object with refractive index
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Académie des Sciences regained its name and autonomy, but remained part of the institute
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Anticipated what became known as the Solvay process for producing soda ash, except that recycling of the ammonia was not considered
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Arago found experimentally that the degree of refraction of starlight does not depend on the direction of the earth's motion relative to the line of sight
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Studied at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (1806–1809).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
We know little of Augustin's time there, except that he made few if any friends and—in spite of continuing poor health—excelled in drawing and geometry: in his first year he took a prize for his solution to a geometry pr
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Studied at École polytechnique (1804–1806).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Then enrolled at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (National School of Bridges and Roads, also known as "ENPC" or "École des Ponts"), from which he graduated in 1809, entering the service of the Corps des Pon
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Studied at Lycée François de Malherbe (1800–1804).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Augustin was sent to the École Centrale at Caen, as company for Louis
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1788-05-10.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections