# Augustin-Jean Fresnel

> He took on Newton and won. Fresnel's mathematics and experiments dismantled the corpuscular theory of light and made the wave account inarguable — a conquest so total it held until Maxwell folded optics into electromagnetism decades later.

*French engineer and physicist (1788-1827)*

**Canonical URL:** https://fame.am/person/augustin-jean-fresnel

## Identity
- **Profile type:** Scientist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631))
- **Category:** Scientists
- **Country:** France
- **Born:** 1788-05-10
- **Died:** 1827-07-14
- **Status:** deceased
- **Gender:** male

## Bio

Born in 1788, Fresnel was a French civil engineer who turned to physics in his thirties and began working on diffraction and polarization. He proposed that light waves are purely transverse, explained double refraction, and by the late 1830s his work had nearly erased Newton's particle model from serious consideration. The same rigor produced the Fresnel lens — a stepped reflective-refractive design that extended lighthouse range and became standard in maritime safety. Tuberculosis shadowed him throughout; he died at 39 in 1827, receiving the Royal Society's Rumford Medal on his deathbed. A contemporary called his transverse-wave theory "the noblest fabric which has ever adorned the domain of physical science, Newton's system of the universe alone excepted."

## Fame
- **Popularity score:** 58.2 / 100
- **Momentum:** 0.0 / 100  (trend: FALLING)
- **Historical depth:** 24.2 / 100
- **Now attention:** 0.0 / 100
- **Source confidence:** 60.0 / 100
- **Profile completeness:** 70.0 / 100

## Topics
#Scientists, #Scientist, #Physics, #France, #Europe, #19th Century

## Sources
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q187241)
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Pantheon 2.0](https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Augustin-Jean%20Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [اقوستن-ژان فرینل](https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86-%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%84)
- [Ogüsten-Jan Frenel](https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Og%C3%BCsten-Jan_Frenel)
- [Агюстэн Жан Фрэнель](https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%B3%D1%8E%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8D%D0%BD_%D0%96%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%A4%D1%80%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C)
- [Огюстен Френел](https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B3%D1%8E%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BD_%D0%A4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BB)
- [Augustin Jean Fresnel](https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin-Jean Fresnel](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin-Jean Fresnel](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [Ωγκυστέν Φρενέλ](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A9%CE%B3%CE%BA%CF%85%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AD%CE%BD_%CE%A6%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%AD%CE%BB)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [Augustin-Jean Fresnel](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [اگوستن-ژان فرنل](https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%DA%AF%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86-%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%86%D9%84)
- [Augustin Jean Fresnel](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Jean Fresnel](https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin Fresnel](https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Fresnel)
- [אוגוסטן ז'אן פרנל](https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%92%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%98%D7%9F_%D7%96'%D7%90%D7%9F_%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%9C)
- [Augustin Jean Fresnel](https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin_Jean_Fresnel)
- [Augustin-Jean Fresnel](https://ht.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Wikiquote](https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [Wikiquote](https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Augustin-Jean_Fresnel)
- [أوغستان-جان فرينل](https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%BA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%84)
- [اوجستان جان فرينل](https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%AC%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%84)

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