Jean Morlet (; 13 January 1931 – 27 April 2007) was a French
geophysicist
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...
who pioneered work in the field of
wavelet
A wavelet is a wave-like oscillation with an amplitude that begins at zero, increases or decreases, and then returns to zero one or more times. Wavelets are termed a "brief oscillation". A taxonomy of wavelets has been established, based on the n ...
analysis around the year 1975. He invented the term ''wavelet'' to describe the functions he was using. In 1981, Morlet worked with
Alex Grossmann
Alexander Grossmann (5 August 1930 – 12 February 2019) was a French-American physicist of Croatian origin.
Early life
Aleksandar Grossmann was born to a Jewish family in Zagreb, where he was attending a gymnasium when World War II in Yugoslav ...
to develop what is now known as the
Wavelet transform.
Biography
Morlet studied at from 1952 to 1955 and was research engineer at
Elf Aquitaine when he invented wavelets to solve signal processing problems for oil prospecting.
Awards
He was awarded in 1997 with the Reginald Fessenden Award. He was awarded in 2001 with the first prize Prix Chéreau Lavet, from the
Académie des Technologies.
Legacy
The Jean-Morlet Chair at the
Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques is named in his honor.
Notes
References
*
2007 deaths
French geophysicists
1931 births
Place of birth missing
École Polytechnique alumni
French applied mathematicians
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