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In October of last year I had the opportunity to spend an hour with a most amazing man: Monsieur Augustin-Jean Fresnel. I hope you also have the opportunity to meet him soon.
He is a Frenchman, frail and somewhat timid at first, but when he speaks of the science of light, his voice raises up to fill the room. There is a gleam in his eyes worthy of a 12” bullseye lighthouse lens, and you are quickly aware that you are in the presence of genius. His enthusiasm is contagious.
I met him during a meeting of the Florida Lighthouse Association. He spoke about his life, including his battle to convince the scientific world about his wave theory of light, and his work to develop the Fresnel lens used in lighthouses throughout the world.
M. Fresnel looked and sounded quite good for a man of 231 years old, especially considering he had died at the young age of 39 in 1827.
How is this possible?
M. Fresnel was brought to life by actor Joseph Smith in his one-man living history portrayal “Augustin Fresnel: Through A New Lens.” Appearing in period costume and assisted by only the minimum of stage props, Smith captivated his audience with an outstanding performance.
As an avid lighthouse historian, I was impressed with the flawless accuracy of his content.
Smith used his performance to educate me on the life of the man as well as explaining his work as a physicist and theory of light in terms that I could easily understand.
Augustin-Jean Fresnel lived from 1788-1827. While employed as a civil engineer for the French government, he developed his skills as a physicist. Specializing in optics, he developed the wave theory of light and was able to prove it, overturning Sir Isaac Newton’s corpuscular theory of light. Fresnel also invented the catadioptric lens that reflected and bent light, as well as the principal of a “stepped” lens developing what is now known as a “Fresnel Lens.” The Fresnel lens was adopted by the U.S. Lighthouse Establishment in the 1850s and it continues in wide use in various forms for lighting and optical purposes.
Joseph Smith is based in New Jersey and has an uncanny natural resemblance to Augustin Fresnel.
If you ever have the opportunity to meet M. Fresnel as depicted by Joseph Smith, don’t miss it! More information on Mr. Smith can be found on his website at www.raisinghistory.com
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2020 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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