Plane of polarization: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:46, 2 September 2017

Revision as of 08:22, 7 September 2017

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| birth_place = [[Broglie, Eure|Broglie]], [[Kingdom of France]] (now [[Eure]], France)

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1827|7|14|1788|5|10}}

| death_place = [[Ville-d'Avray]], [[Bourbon Restoration|Kingdom of France]] (now  [[Hauts-de-Seine]], France),

| death_cause = of [[Tuberculosis]]

| resting_place = [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]

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| [[Athénée de Luxembourg|Athénée]] ({{smaller|1819}}){{r|brock-1909}}

| [[École Polytechnique|École Polytech.]] ({{smaller|1821–4}})}}

| alma_matereducation = {{ublist

| [[École Polytechnique|École Polytech.]] ({{smaller|1804–6}})

| [[École des ponts ParisTech|École des Ponts]]}}

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| [[Polarization]]

| [[Physical optics|Wave optics]]}}

| influences = {{ublist

| [[Christiaan Huygens]]

| [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]]

| [[François Arago]]}}

| influenced = {{ublist

| [[James MacCullagh]]

| [[William Rowan Hamilton]]

| [[Humphrey Lloyd (physicist)|Humphrey Lloyd]]}}

| awards = {{ublist

| {{small|1819:}} [[French Academy of Sciences|Academy]] Grand Prix

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}}

'''Augustin-Jean Fresnel''' ({{IPAc-en|f|r|eɪ|ˈ|n|ɛ|l}}, {{respell|fray|NEL|'}}; {{IPA-fr|ɔ.ɡy.stɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ fʁɛ.nɛl|lang}}; 10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a [[France|French]] civil [[engineer]] and [[physicist]] whose research in [[optics]] led to the almost universal acceptance of the wave theory of light, and the rejection of any remnant of [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]'s [[corpuscular theory of light|corpuscular theory]], from the 1830s<ref>Darrigol, 2012, pp.{{nnbsp}}220–23.</ref> until the end of the 19th century.

But 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 [[lighthouse]]s, saving unknown numbers of lives at sea. The simpler ''dioptric'' (purely refractive) stepped lens, first proposed by [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Count Buffon]]{{r|chisholm-1911-lighthouse}} and independently reinvented by Fresnel, is used in screen [[magnifying glass|magnifiers]] and in condenser lenses for [[overhead projector|overhead projectors]].

By expressing [[Christiaan Huygens|Huygens]]' principle of secondary waves and [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Young]]'s principle of [[interference (wave propagation)|interference]] in quantitative terms, and supposing that simple colors consist of ''[[sine wave|sinusoidal]]'' waves, Fresnel gave the first satisfactory explanation of [[diffraction]] by straight edges, including the first explanation of rectilinear propagation that would satisfy a modern physicist.<ref>Darrigol, 2012, p.{{hsp}}205.</ref> By further supposing that light waves are purely ''[[transverse wave|transverse]]'', he explained the nature of [[polarization]] and lack thereof, the mechanism of ''chromatic polarization'' (the colors produced when polarized light is passed through a slice of doubly-refractive crystal followed by a second polarizer), and the [[transmission coefficient|transmission]] and [[reflection coefficient]]s at a boundary between transparent [[isotropy|isotropic]] media (including [[Brewster's angle]]). Then, by generalizing the relationship between wave speed and polarization for [[calcite]], he accounted for the directions and polarizations of the refracted rays in [[birefringence|doubly-refractive]] crystals of the ''biaxial'' class (those for which Huygens' secondary wavefronts are not axisymmetric). The period between the first publication of his pure-transverse-wave hypothesis and the presentation of his solution to the biaxial problem was less than a year. Later, by allowing the reflection coefficient to be ''[[complex number|complex]]'', he accounted for the change in polarization due to [[total internal reflection]], as exploited in the [[Fresnel rhomb]]. Defenders of the established corpuscular theory could not match his quantitative explanations of so many phenomena on so few assumptions.

Fresnel's legacy is the more remarkable in view of his lifelong battle with [[tuberculosis]], to which he succumbed at the age of 39. Although he did not become a public celebrity in his short lifetime, he lived just long enough to receive due recognition from his peers, including (on his deathbed) the [[Rumford Medal]] of the [[Royal Society of London]], and his name recurs frequently in the modern terminology of optics and waves.

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== Early life ==

[[File:Augustin Fresnel buste Broglie.jpg|thumb|Monument to Augustin Fresnel aton the facade of his birthplace inat 2&nbsp;Rue Augustin Fresnel, [[Broglie, Eure|Broglie]] (facing Rue Jean François Mérimée),{{r|martan-2014}} inaugurated on 14&nbsp;September 1884.{{r|bibmed|academie}} The inscription, when translated, says:<br style="margin-bottom: 0.6ex;" />"Augustin Fresnel, Engineerengineer of Bridges and Roads, member of the Academy of Sciences, creator of lenticular lighthouses, was born in this house on 10&nbsp;May 1788. The theory of light owes to this emulator of Newton the highest concepts and the most useful applications."{{r|martan-2014|perchet-2011}}]]

=== Family ===

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Augustin-Jean Fresnel (also called Augustin Jean or simply Augustin), born in [[Broglie, Eure|Broglie]], [[Normandy]], on 10&nbsp;May 1788, was the second of four sons of the architect Jacques Fresnel (1755–1805){{r|favre}} and his wife Augustine, ''née'' Mérimée (1755?–1833).{{r|jeanelie}} In 1790, following the [[French Revolution|Revolution]], Broglie became part of the [[Departments of France|département]] of [[Eure]]. The family moved twice — in 1790 to [[Cherbourg-Octeville|Cherbourg]],<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}23.</ref> and in 1794{{r|silliman-2008|p=166}} to Jacques' home town of [[Mathieu, Calvados|Mathieu]], where Madame Fresnel remained as a widow,{{r|boutry-1948|p=590}} outliving two of her sons.

The first son, Louis (1786–1809), was admitted to the [[École Polytechnique]], became a lieutenant in the artillery, and was killed at [[Jaca]], [[Spain]], the day before his 23rd birthday.{{r|jeanelie}} The third, Léonor (1790–1869),{{r|favre}} followed Augustin into civil [[engineer]]ing, succeeded him as Secretary of the Lighthouse Commission,<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}99.</ref> and helped to edit his collected works.<ref>Fresnel, 1866–70.</ref>. The fourth, [[Fulgence Fresnel]] (1795–1855), became a noted linguist, diplomat, and orientalist, and occasionally assisted Augustin with negotiations.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}72.</ref>

Their mother's brother Jean François "Léonor" Mérimée (1757–1836),{{r|jeanelie}} father of the writer [[Prosper Mérimée]] (1803–1870), was a painter[[painting|paint&nbsp;artist]] who studiedturned his attention to the [[chemistry]] of painting. He became the Permanentpermanent Secretarysecretary of the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] (School of Fine Arts) and a professor at the École polytechnique, and was the initial point of contact between Augustin and the leading optical physicists of the day (see below).

=== Education ===

Augustin and his brothers were initially home-schooled by their mother. Augustin, a sickly child, was considered the slow one, justhardly beginning to read atuntil the age of eight. At ten he was undistinguished except for his ability to turn tree-branches into toy bows and cannon that wereworked far too dangerouswell, toearning playhimself withthe title ''l'homme de génie'' (the man of genius) from his accomplices, provokingand a united crackdown from histheir elders.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}24–5.</ref>{{r|boutry-1948|p=590–91}}

In 1801, Augustin was sent to the ''École centrale'' at [[Caen]], as company for Louis. But Augustin lifted his performance: in 1804 he was accepted into the École Polytechnique, being placed 17th in the entrance examination, in which his solutions to geometry problems impressed the examiner, [[Adrien-Marie Legendre]]. As the surviving records of the École Polytechnique begin in 1808, we know little of Augustin Fresnel's time there, except that he apparently excelled in geometry and drawing — in spite of continuing poor health — and made few if any friends. Graduating in 1806, he then enrolled at the [[École des ponts ParisTech|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 of Bridges, Waters and Forests|Corps des Ponts et Chaussées]] as an ''ingénieur ordinair aspirant'' (ordinary engineer in training). Directly or indirectly, the "Corps des Ponts" would be his sole or main employer for the rest of his life.{{r|chisholm-1911-fresnel}}<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}25–7.</ref>{{r|boutry-1948|p=591–2,601}}

=== InfluenceReligious of religionformation ===

Fresnel's parents were [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]] of the [[Jansenism|Jansenist]] sect, characterized by an extreme [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]] view of [[original sin]]. In the home-schooling that the boys received from their mother, religion took first place. In 1802, Mme&nbsp;Fresnel wrote to Louis concerning Augustin:{{quote|I pray God to give my son the grace to employ the great talents, which he has received, for his own benefit, and for the God of all. Much will be asked from him to whom much has been given, and most will be required of him who has received most.{{r|kneller-1911|p=147}} }}

Augustin Fresnel remained a Jansenist.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}24.</ref> He indeed regarded his intellectual talents as a gift from God, and considered it his duty to use them for the benefit of others.{{r|kneller-1911|p=148}} Plagued by poor health, and determined to do his duty before death thwarted him, he shunned pleasures and worked himself to the point of exhaustion.{{r|silliman-2008|p=166}} According to his fellow engineer Alphonse Duleau, who helped to nurse him through his final illness, Fresnel saw the study of nature as part of the study of the power and goodness of God. He placed virtue above science and genius. Yet in his last days he needed "strength of soul," not against death alone, but against "the interruption of discoveries… of which he hoped to derive useful applications."{{r|kneller-1911|p=148–9n}} Although Jansenism is considered [[heresy|heretical]] by the Roman Catholic Church, the brief article on Fresnel in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1909) does not mention his Jansenism, but describes him as "a deeply religious man and remarkable for his keen sense of duty."{{r|brock-1909}}

== Engineering assignments ==

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=== Historical context ===

&nbsp;

chisholm-1911-brewster:

The most important subjects of his inquiries are enumerated by Forbes

under the following five heads:—(1) The laws of polarization by

reflection and refraction, and other quantitative laws of phenomena;

(2) The discovery of the polarizing structure induced by heat and

pressure; (3) The discovery of crystals with two axes of double

refraction, and many of the laws of their phenomena, including the

connexion of optical structure and crystalline forms; (4) The laws of

metallic reflection; (5) Experiments on the absorption of light. In

this line of investigation the prime importance belongs to the

discovery (1) of the connexion between the refractive index and the

polarizing angle, (2) of biaxial crystals, and (3) of the production

of double refraction by irregular heating.

In 1819 Brewster undertook further editorial work by establishing, in

conjunction with Robert Jameson (1774-1854), the Edinburgh

Philosophical Journal, which took the place of the Edinburgh

Magazine. The first ten volumes (1819-1824) were published under the

joint editorship of Brewster and Jameson, the remaining four volumes

(1825-1826) being edited by Jameson alone. After parting company with

Jameson, Brewster started the Edinburgh Journal of Science in 1824,

sixteen volumes of which appeared under his editorship during the

years 1824-1832, with very many articles from his own pen. To the

transactions of various learned societies he contributed from first to

last between three and four hundred papers, and few of his

contemporaries wrote so much for the various reviews. In the North

British Review alone seventy-five articles of his appeared.

Quarterly Review

Forbes:—"His scientific glory is different in kind from that of Young

and Fresnel; but the discoverer of the law of polarization of biaxial

crystals, of optical mineralogy, and of double refraction by

compression, will always occupy a foremost rank in the intellectual

history of the age."

=== Interference ===

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=== Partial reflection ===

[[|reflectance|reflectivity]], [[reflection coefficient]], [[Fresnel equations]], [[computer graphics]], rendering of water.

Circularly polarized light he obtained by means of a rhomb of glass, known as "Fresnel’s rhomb", having obtuse angles of 126°, and acute angles of 54°.{{r|chisholm-1911-fresnel}}

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(Fresnel acknowledged the British lenses and Buffon's invention in a memoir published in 1822.{{r|fresnel-1822-phares|p=2–4}}. The date of that memoir may be the source of the claim that Fresnel's lighthouse advocacy began two years later than Brewster's;{{r|chisholm-1911-brewster}} but the text makes it clear that Fresnel's involvement began no later than 1819.{{r|fresnel-1822-phares|p=1}})

{{clear}}

=== Fresnel's innovations ===

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Fresnel's next lens was a rotating apparatus with eight "bull's-eye" panels, made in annular arcs by [[Saint-Gobain]],<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}71.</ref> giving eight rotating beams — to be seen by mariners as a periodic flash. Above and behind each main panel was a smaller, sloping bull's-eye panel of trapezoidal outline with trapezoidal elements.{{r|gombert-2017}} This refracted the light to a sloping plane mirror, which then reflected it horizontally, 7&nbsp;degrees ahead of the main beam, increasing the duration of the flash.{{r|fresnel-1822-phares|p=13,25}} Below the main panels were 128 small mirrors arranged in four rings, stacked like the slats of a [[louver]] or [[Venetian blind]]. Each ring, shaped like a [[frustum]] of a [[cone]], reflected the light to the horizon, giving a fainter steady light between the flashes. The official test, conducted on the ''[[Arc de Triomphe]]'' on 20&nbsp;August 1822, was witnessed by the Commission — and by [[Louis XVIII of France|Louis XVIII]] and his entourage — from 32km away. The apparatus was stored at [[Bordeaux]] for the winter, and then reassembled at [[Cordouan Lighthouse]] under Fresnel's supervision. On 25&nbsp;July 1823, the world's first lighthouse Fresnel lens was lit.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}72–3.</ref> It was about this time that Fresnel started coughing up blood.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}97.</ref>{{r|watson-2016|p=146}}

In May of the same year1824,{{r|ripley-dana-1879}} Fresnel was promoted to Secretary of the ''Commission des phares'', becoming the first member of that body to draw a salary.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}82.</ref> He was also an examiner at the École Polytechnique (since 1821),{{r|brock-1909}} but poor health soon induced him to resign that post and save his energy for his lighthouse work.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}97.</ref> The following year he 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 characteristics to facilitate recognition: a constant light (from a fixed lens), one flash per minute (from a rotating lens with eight panels), and two per minute (sixteen panels). On 1&nbsp;February 1825, the second lighthouse Fresnel lens entered service: a third-order fixed lens at Dunkirk.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}83–4.</ref>

In 1824, Fresnel designed the first ''fixed'' lens — for spreading light evenly around the horizon{{r|tag-fres}} while minimizing waste above or below. This had the familiar reflecting (''catoptric'') rings above and below the refracting (''dioptric'') panels. But the curved refracting surfaces were segments of toroids about a common vertical axis, so that the dioptric panel looked like a cylindrical drum and the entire apparatus looked like a beehive.

In 1824,the Fresnelsame year he designed the first ''fixed'' lens — for spreading light evenly around the horizon{{r|tag-fres}} while minimizing waste above or below. This had the familiar reflecting (''catoptric'') rings above and below the refracting (''dioptric'') panels. But the curved refracting surfaces were segments of toroids about a common vertical axis, so that the dioptric panel looked like a cylindrical drum and the entire apparatus looked like a beehive.

In May of the same year,{{r|ripley-dana-1879}} Fresnel was promoted to Secretary of the ''Commission des phares'', becoming the first member of that body to draw a salary.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}82.</ref> He was also an examiner at the École Polytechnique (since 1821),{{r|brock-1909}} but poor health soon induced him to resign that post and save his energy for his lighthouse work.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}97.</ref> The following year he 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 characteristics to facilitate recognition: a constant light (from a fixed lens), one flash per minute (from a rotating lens with eight panels), and two per minute (sixteen panels). On 1&nbsp;February 1825, the second lighthouse Fresnel lens entered service: a third-order fixed lens at Dunkirk.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}83–4.</ref>

In 1825 he 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 characteristics to facilitate recognition: a constant light (from a fixed lens), one flash per minute (from a rotating lens with eight panels), and two per minute (sixteen panels). On 1&nbsp;February 1825, the second lighthouse Fresnel lens entered service: a third-order fixed lens at Dunkirk.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}83–4.</ref>

Also in 1825, Fresnel extended his fixed design by adding a rotating array outside the fixed array.{{r|tag-fres}} Each panel of the rotating array refracted part of the fixed light from a horizontal fan into a narrow beam.

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[[File:MuseeMarine-phareFresnel-p1000466.jpg|thumb|left|First-order rotating catadioptric Fresnel lens, dated 1870, displayed at the ''[[Musée national de la Marine]]'', Paris. In this case the dioptric prisms (inside the bronze circles) and catadioptric prisms (outside) are arranged to give a purely flashing light with four flashes per rotation. The assembly stands 2.54 metres tall and weighs about 1.5 tonnes.]]

To reduce the loss of light in the reflecting elements, Fresnel proposed to replace theeach mirrorsmirror with a ''catadioptric'' prismsprism, through which the light would passtravel by tworefraction refractionsthrough andthe onefirst surface, then [[total internal reflection]] off the second surface, then refraction through the third surface.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}79–80.</ref> The result was the lighthouse lens as we now know it. In 1826 he assembled a small model for use on the [[Canal Saint-Martin]],{{r|musee}} but he did not live to see a full-sized version.

The first large catadioptric lenses were made in 1842 for the lighthouses at Gravelines and [[Île Vierge]]; these were fixed third-order lenses whose catadoptric rings (made in segments) were one metre in diameter. The first-order [[Skerryvore]] lens, installed in 1844, was only partly catadoptric; it was similar to the Cordouan lens except that the lower slats were replaced by French-made catadioptric prisms, while mirrors were retained at the top. The first ''fully'' catadioptric first-order lens, installed at Ailly in 1852, also gave eight rotating beams plus a fixed light at the bottom; but its top section had eight catadioptric panels focusing the light about 4 degrees ahead of the main beams, in order to lengthen the flashes. The first fully catadioptric lens with ''purely revolving'' beams — also of first order — was installed at [[Saint-Clément-des-Baleines]] in 1854, and marked the completion of Fresnel's original ''Carte des phares''.<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}108–10, 113–16.</ref>

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== Honors ==

[[File:Bust of Augustin Fresnel by David d'Angers-MnM 41 OA 256 D-IMG 8741.jpg|thumb|leftupright|Bust of Augustin Fresnel by [[David d'Angers]] (1854), formerly in the lighthouse of [[Hourtin]], [[Gironde]], and now exhibited at the ''[[Musée national de la Marine]]''.]]

In 1823, Fresnel was unanimously elected a member of the [[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des sciencesSciences]].{{r|brock-1909}}{{r|chisholm-1911-fresnel}} In 1824<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}77.</ref> he was made a ''chevalier de la Légion d'honneur'' (Knight of the [[Legion of Honour]]).{{r|academie}} Meanwhile in Britain, the wave theory was yet to take hold; late in 1824, Fresnel wrote to Thomas Young, saying in part:<blockquote>I am far from denying the value that I&nbsp;attach to the praise of English scholars, or pretending that they would not have flattered me agreeably. But for a long time this sensibility, or vanity, which is called the love of glory, has been much blunted in me: I&nbsp;work far less to capture the public's votes than to obtain an inner approbation which has always been the sweetest reward of my efforts. Doubtless I&nbsp;have often needed the sting of vanity to excite me to pursue my researches in moments of disgust or discouragement; but all the compliments I&nbsp;received from MM.&nbsp;Arago, Laplace, and Biot never gave me as much pleasure as the discovery of a theoretical truth and the confirmation of my calculations by experiment.<ref>Fresnel to Young, 26&nbsp;November 1824, in Young, 1855, pp.{{nnbsp}}402–3</ref></blockquote>But the "praise of English scholars" soon followed. On 9&nbsp;June 1825, heFresnel was made a Foreign Member of the [[Royal Society|Royal Society of London]].{{r|royalS-2007}} In 1827{{r|chisholm-1911-fresnel|rines-1919}} he 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."{{r|royalS-rumford}}

The monument to Fresnel at his birthplace (see [[#Early life|above]]) was dedicated on 14&nbsp;September 1884 with a speech by {{nowrap|[[Jules Jamin]]}}, permanent secretary of the Académie des Sciences.{{r|academie|jamin-1884}} "{{smaller|FRESNEL}}" is among the [[List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower|72 names embossed on the Eiffel Tower]] — (on the south-east side, 4thfourth from the left). In the 19th century, as every lighthouse in France acquired a Fresnel lens, every one acquired a bust of Fresnel, seemingly watching over the coastline that he had made safer.<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}233</ref>

{{clear}}

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[[File:Tombe d'Augustin Fresnel - Père Lachaise.JPG|thumb|Fresnel's grave at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris, photographed in 2014.]]

Fresnel's health, which had always been poor, deteriorated in the winter of 1822-3, increasing the urgency of his original research, and causing him to turn down an invitation from Thomas Young to write an article on double refraction for the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. In the spring he recovered enough, in his own view, to supervise the installation at Cordouan. Soon afterwards, it became clear that his condition was [[tuberculosis]].<ref>Levitt, 2013, pp.{{nnbsp}}75–6,{{nnbsp}}97</ref>

But, as he wrote to Young in 1824, in him "that sensibility, or that vanity, which people call love of glory" had been blunted. "All the compliments," he says, "that I have received from Arago, Laplace and Biot never gave me so much pleasure as the discovery of a theoretic truth, or the confirmation of a calculation by experiment."{{r|chisholm-1911-fresnel}}

In 1824 he was told that if he wanted to live longer, he needed to scale back his activities. Perceiving his lighthouse work to be his most important duty, he resigned from the École Polytechnique. His last note to the Académie, read on 13&nbsp;June 1825, described the first [[radiometer]] and attributed the observed repulsive force to a temperature difference.{{r|boutry-1948|p=601–2}} In 1826 he found time to answer some queries from the British astronomer [[John Herschel]] for an article on light, which was eventually published in the ''[[Encyclopædia Metropolitana]]''.<rev>Darrigol, 2012, pp.{{nnbsp}}220–21.</ref> It was Herschel who recommended Fresnel for the Royal Society's Rumford Medal.{{r|boutry-1948|p=603}}

Rumford medal, which was

presented to him upon his deathbed by his friend

and collaborator Arago.{{r|ripley-dana-1879}}

Fresnel's cough worsened in the winter of 1826-7. In the spring, being too ill to return to Mathieu, he was carried to [[Ville-d'Avray]], 12km west of Paris, where he was joined by his mother. On 6&nbsp;July, Arago arrived to deliver the Rumford Medal. Sensing Arago's distress, Fresnel whispered that "the most beautiful crown means little, when it is laid on the grave of a friend." Fresnel did not have the strength to reply to the Royal Society. He died eight days later, on [[Bastille Day]].<ref>Levitt, 2013, p.{{hsp}}98.</ref>{{r|boutry-1948|p=602}}

Fresnel is buried at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris. The inscription on his headstone is partly [[commons:category:Grave of Augustin Fresnel (Père-Lachaise, division 14)|eroded away]]; the legible part says, when translated, "To the memory of Augustin Jean FRESNEL, member of the [[Institut de France|Institute of France]]."

Fresnel is buried at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris. The inscription on his headstone is partly [[commons:category:Grave of Augustin Fresnel (Père-Lachaise, division 14)|erodedinscription awayon his headstone]] is partly eroded away; the legible part says, when translated, "To the memory of Augustin Jean FRESNEL, member of the [[Institut de France|Institute of France]]."

{{clear}}

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{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name=academie>Académie des sciencesSciences, ''Membres…'' [http://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/dossiers/Fresnel/Fresnel_oeuvre.htm "Augustin Fresnel"], accessed 21&nbsp;August 2017; [https://web.archive.org/web/20170215201835/http://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/dossiers/Fresnel/Fresnel_oeuvre.htm archived] 15&nbsp;February 2017.</ref>

<ref name=appleton-1861>D. Appleton &amp; Co., "Sea-lights", ''Dictionary of Machines, Mechanics, Engine-work, and Engineering'', 1861, [https://archive.org/details/appletonsdiction02appl v.2].</ref>

<ref name=bibmed>Bibliothèques et Médiathèque, [http://www.culture-evreux.fr/EXPLOITATION/Default/doc/ALOES/1587928/inauguration-a-broglie-le-14-septembre-1884-du-buste-d-augustin-fresnel "Inauguration à Broglie, le 14 septembre 1884 du buste d'Augustin Fresnel"], accessed 4&nbsp;September 2017.</ref>

<ref name=boutry-1948>G.-A. Boutry, "Augustin Fresnel: His time, life and work, 1788–1827", ''Science Progress'', v.36, no.144 (October 1948), pp. 587–604; [http://www.jstor.org/stable/43413515 jstor.org/stable/43413515].</ref>

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<ref name=jamesCMF>James Clerk Maxwell Foundation, [http://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/about_maxwell.html "Who was James Clerk Maxwell?"], accessed 6&nbsp;August 2017; [https://web.archive.org/web/20170630003106/http://www.clerkmaxwellfoundation.org/html/about_maxwell.html archived] 30&nbsp;June 2017.</ref>

<ref name=jamin-1884>J. Jamin, [http://www.academie-sciences.fr/pdf/dossiers/Fresnel/Fresnel_pdf/Fresnel_eloge_1884.pdf ''Discours prononcé au nom de l'Académie des Sciences à l'inauguration du monument de Fresnel''], Broglie, 14&nbsp;September 1884; accessed 6&nbsp;September 2017.</ref>

<ref name=jeanelie>'jeanelie' (author), "Augustine Charlotte Marie Louise Merimee" and "Louis Jacques Fresnel", gw.geneanet.org, accessed 30&nbsp;August 2017.</ref>

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<ref name=lloyd-1873>H. Lloyd, ''Elementary Treatise on the Wave-theory of Light'', [https://archive.org/details/elementarytreati00lloyrich 3rd&nbsp;Ed.], London: Longmans, Green, &amp; Co., 1873, p.167. (Cf.&nbsp;[https://archive.org/details/wavetheorylight00lloyrich 2nd&nbsp;Ed.], 1857, p.136.)</ref>

<ref name=macCullagh-1830>J. MacCullagh, "On the Double Refraction of Light in a Crystallized Medium, according to the Principles of Fresnel", ''Transactions of theTrans. Royal Irish Academy'', v.16&nbsp;(1830), pp.&nbsp;65–78; [http://www.jstor.org/stable/30079025 jstor.org/stable/30079025].</ref>

<ref name=martan-2014>'martan' (author), [http://maisons.natales.over-blog.com/2014/05/eure-27.html "Eure&nbsp;(27)"], ''Guide National des Maisons Natales'', 30&nbsp;May 2014.</ref>

<ref name=musee>Musée national de la Marine, [http://mnm.webmuseo.com/ws/musee-national-marine/app/collection/record/9067 "Appareil catadioptrique, Appareil du canal Saint-Martin"], accessed 26&nbsp;August 2017; [https://web.archive.org/web/20170826030358/http://mnm.webmuseo.com/ws/musee-national-marine/app/collection/record/9067 archived] 26&nbsp;August 2017.</ref>

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<ref name=rines-1919>G.E. Rines (ed.), "Fresnel, Augustin Jean", ''Encyclopedia Americana'', 1918–20, v.12 (1919), [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89094370657;view=1up;seq=111 p.93]. (This entry inaccurately describes Fresnel as the "discoverer" of polarization of light and as a "Fellow" of the Royal Society, whereas in fact he ''explained'' polarization and was a "Foreign Member" of the Society; see text.)</ref>

<ref name=ripley-dana-1879>G. Ripley &amp; C.A.&nbsp;Dana (ed.), "Fresnel, Augustin Jean", ''American Cyclopedia'', [https://archive.org/details/americancyclopae07ripluoft v.7], pp.486–9.</ref> (Contrary to this entry&nbsp;[p.486], calcite and quartz were ''not'' the only doubly refractive crystals known before Fresnel; see text.)</ref>

<ref name=royalS-2007>Royal Society, ''List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660–2007'', A–J, July 2001, p.{{hsp}}130.</ref>

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<ref name=watson-2016>B. Watson, ''Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age'', New York: Bloomsbury, 2016.</ref>

<ref name=whewell-1857>W. Whewell, ''History of the Inductive Sciences: From the Earliest to the Present Time'', 3rd&nbsp;Ed., London: John J.W. Parker &amp; Son, 1857, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cBSrVEkaR8EC v.2].</ref>

<ref name=whittaker-1910>E.T. Whittaker, [https://archive.org/details/historyoftheorie00whitrich ''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity: From the age of Descartes to the close of the nineteenth century''], Longmans, Green, &amp; Co., 1910.</ref>

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== Bibliography ==

* H. Crew (ed.), 1900, [https://archive.org/details/wavetheoryofligh00crewrich ''The Wave Theory of Light: Memoirs by Huygens, Young and Fresnel''], American Book Co., 1900.

* O. Darrigol, 2012, ''A History of Optics: From Greek Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century'', Oxford, 2012.

* A. Fresnel (ed. H. de Senarmont, E.&nbsp;Verdet, L.&nbsp;Frenel), 1866–70, ''Oeuvres complètes d'Augustin Fresnel'' (3 vols.), Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1866&ndash;70Impériale; [https://books.google.com/books?id=1l0_AAAAcAAJ v.1&nbsp;(1866)], [https://archive.org/details/oeuvrescompltes00fresgoog v.2&nbsp;(1868)], [https://archive.org/details/oeuvrescompltes01fresgoog v.3&nbsp;(1870)].

* T.H. Levitt, 2013, ''A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse'', New York: W.W.&nbsp;Norton, 2013.

* {{OL author|2296238A}}