Stuff You Missed in History Class15 Sep 2025

Augustin Jean Fresnel

Augustin Fresnel didn’t live a long life, but he contributed significantly to the understanding of light and to the safety of coastlines. Neither of those had anything to do with his career.

Research:

Anderson, F.L. “Huygens' Principle geometric derivation and elimination of the wake and backward wave.” Sci Rep11, 20257 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99049-7
Aglialoro, Todd. “Jansenism.” Catholic.com. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/jansenism
Garcia-Atutxa, Igor, et al. “The epistemological impact of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his wave theory of light in the 19th century.” History of Science and Technology. Vol. 14, No. 1. 2024. https://www.hst-journal.com/index.php/hst/article/view/616
Clingan, Ian C.. "lighthouse". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/technology/lighthouse
Crew, Henry. “The wave theory of light; memoirs of Huygens, Young and Fresnel.” New York. Cincinnati American Book Company. 1900. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/wavetheoryofligh00crewrich/page/n3/mode/2up
Davidson, Michael W. “Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827).” Molecular Expressions. Florida State University. https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/fresnel.html
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Augustin-Jean Fresnel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augustin-Jean-Fresnel
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "François Arago". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francois-Arago
“The Genius of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his Lens.” Ponce Lighthouse & Museum. July 19, 2023. https://www.ponceinlet.org/the-genius-of-augustin-jean-fresnel-and-his-lens/
Herivel, John. "Christiaan Huygens". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christiaan-Huygens.
“July 1816: Fresnel’s Evidence for the Wave Theory of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201607/physicshistory.cfm
Linden, Teri Clark. “A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse.” W.W. Norton. 2013.
“May 1801: Thomas Young and the Nature of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/200805/physicshistory.cfm
“Napoleon’s Russian campaign: From the Niemen to Moscow.” Napoleon Foundation. https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/timelines/napoleons-russian-campaign-from-the-niemen-to-moscow/
Rehman, Ayaz Ur, and Muhammad Sabieh Anwar. “Light Is a Transverse Wave.” LUMS Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. August 21, 2018. https://physlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LightTransverse-v2.pdf
Silliman, Robert H. “Fresnel and the Emergence of Physics as a Discipline.” Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences , 1974, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 137- University of California Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27757329.pdf
Tag, Thomas. “Lens Use Prior to Fresnel.” United States Lighthouse Society. https://uslhs.org/node/1481

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