Robert Gaston André Maréchal (10 December 1916 – 14 October 2007) was a French researcher and administrator in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

. André Maréchal was director general of the French

Institut d'Optique The Institut d'optique Graduate School ("Institute of optics"), nicknamed SupOptique or IOGS, is one of the most prestigious French Grandes Ecoles and the leading French ''grande école'' in the field of Optics and its industrial and scientific ap ...

. In 1986 Maréchal was elected to Honorary Membership of the

Optical Society Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

its highest honor, for his work in the areas of coherence, diffraction, geometric optics, image formation and image processing, and for his contributions to the international optics community. His pioneering work influenced the development of computer programs that optimized lens designs and advanced the automatic optimization of optical systems. He strongly contributed to the promotion of Fourier optics and analog optical computing. Maréchal graduated from the

École normale supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1941, and received his engineer's degree from SupOptique (

École supérieure d'optique The Institut d'optique Graduate School ("Institute of optics"), nicknamed SupOptique or IOGS, is one of the most prestigious French Grandes Ecoles and the leading French ''grande école'' in the field of Optics and its industrial and scientific ap ...

) in 1943. He received a doctor of science degree in engineering from the University of Paris in 1948. For his thesis research, he investigated the combined effects of diffraction and aberrations and derived what is now known as the Maréchal criterion. Formally, that a wavefront can be regarded as

diffraction-limited The resolution of an optical imaging system a microscope, telescope, or camera can be limited by factors such as imperfections in the lenses or misalignment. However, there is a principal limit to the resolution of any optical system, due to th ...

if its RMS phase error is 14 times less than its wavelength. Maréchal served as president of the

International Commission for Optics The International Commission for Optics (ICO) was created in 1947 with the objective to contribute, on an international basis, to the progress and dissemination of the science of optics and photonics and their applications. It emphasises the unit ...

(1962–1966), honorary vice president of the Comité français de physique, and was a founding member of the Franco-Finnish Association for Scientific and Technical Research. He was a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

, and of the

French Academy of Technologies The National Academy of Technologies of France (''Académie des technologies'') is a learned society, founded in 2000, with an emphasis on technology, and the newest of French academies. In 2007 it acquired the status of ''établissement public'', w ...

. He died on 14 October 2007 at the age of 90.

Awards

* 1965 -

Young Medal and Prize The Institute of Physics awards numerous prizes to acknowledge contributions to physics research, education and applications. It also offers smaller specific subject-group prizes, such as for PhD thesis submissions. Bilateral awards * The Max B ...

* 1977 - C.E.K. Mees Medal * 1986 - Honorary Membership of the

* 1989 -

SPIE Gold Medal SPIE Gold Medal, or Gold Medal Award of SPIE, is the highest honor of SPIE (the international society for optics and photonics), and is considered one of the highest award in the fields of photonic and optical engineering and related instrumental ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marechal, Andre French physicists École Normale Supérieure alumni 1916 births 2007 deaths Academic staff of Paris-Sud University Supélec alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences