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PHYSICIST

Augustin-Jean Fresnel

1788 - 1827

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Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of 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" lenses to extend the visibility of lighthouses, saving countless lives at sea. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Augustin-Jean Fresnel has received more than 518,106 page views. His biography is available in 60 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 57 in 2019). Augustin-Jean Fresnel is the 109th most popular physicist, the 529th most popular biography from France (up from 531st in 2019) and the 14th most popular French Physicist.

Augustin-Jean Fresnel is most famous for his work in optics, which led to the invention of the Fresnel lens.

Memorability Metrics

  • 520k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 67.18

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 60

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.62

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.38

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Augustin-Jean Fresnel ranks 109 out of 717. Before him are Joseph von Fraunhofer, Kip Thorne, Henry Moseley, George Gamow, Javier Solana, and Victor Francis Hess. After him are J. Hans D. Jensen, Edward Victor Appleton, Julius von Mayer, Anders Jonas Ångström, George Paget Thomson, and Ernst Abbe.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1788, Augustin-Jean Fresnel ranks 4. Before him are Arthur Schopenhauer, Lord Byron, and Sarah Baartman. After him are Jean-Victor Poncelet, Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Robert Peel, Princess Wilhelmine of Baden, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, and Archduke Rudolf of Austria. Among people deceased in 1827, Augustin-Jean Fresnel ranks 6. Before him are Ludwig van Beethoven, Alessandro Volta, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, and William Blake. After him are Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, Wilhelm Hauff, Samuel Crompton, Maria Theresa of Austria, Ugo Foscolo, and Ernst Chladni.

Others Born in 1788

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Others Deceased in 1827

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In France

Among people born in France, Augustin-Jean Fresnel ranks 529 out of 6,011. Before him are Claude Chabrol (1930), Chilperic I (539), Frédéric Bazille (1841), Ève Curie (1904), Auguste de Marmont (1774), and Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824). After him are John Vianney (1786), Caroline Bonaparte (1782), Eugène Boudin (1824), Anaïs Nin (1903), Baldwin I, Latin Emperor (1172), and William of Rubruck (1220).

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Among PHYSICISTS In France

Among physicists born in France, Augustin-Jean Fresnel ranks 14. Before him are Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900), Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis (1792), Jean Baptiste Perrin (1870), Paul Langevin (1872), Hippolyte Fizeau (1819), and Alfred Kastler (1902). After him are François Arago (1786), Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron (1799), Albert Fert (1938), Jean-Baptiste Biot (1774), Jacques Charles (1763), and Hans Bethe (1906).

French born Physicists

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