Marie Paul Auguste Charles Fabry (; 11 June 1867 – 11 December 1945) was a French

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

working on

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

. Together with Alfred Pérot he invented the

Fabry–Pérot interferometer In optics, a Fabry–Pérot interferometer (FPI) or etalon is an optical cavity made from two parallel reflecting surfaces (i.e.: thin mirrors). Optical waves can pass through the optical cavity only when they are in resonance with it. It is ...

. He is also one of the co-discoverers of the

ozone layer The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth's stratosphere that absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. It contains a high concentration of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the a ...

Biography

Charles Fabry was born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in 1867. He was the brother of astronomer Louis Fabry and mathematician Eugène Fabry.

Studies

Delegates to the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory

Fabry graduated from the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and received his doctorate from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in 1892, for his work on interference fringes, which established him as an authority in the field of

and

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

. In 1904, he was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of Marseille, where he spent 16 years.

Career

, he discovered an explanation for the phenomenon of

interference Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to: Communications * Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message * Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...

fringes. Together with his colleague Alfred Pérot he invented a new

interferometer Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

in 1899, now known as the

. He and Henri Buisson discovered the

in 1913. In 1921, Fabry was appointed Professor of General Physics at the Sorbonne and the first director of the new Institute of Optics. In 1926 he also became professor at the

. He was the first general director of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée and director of "grande école" École supérieure d'optique (SupOptique). Fabry was the President of the Société astronomique de France from 1931–1933.de la Société astronomique de France'', November 1937, plates X-IX
/ref> Fabry-7

Awards and honors

For his important scientific achievements he received the Rumford Medal from the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

in 1918. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

his work was recognized by the Henry Draper Medal from the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(1919) and the

Franklin Medal The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country ...

from the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

(1921). In 1927 he was elected to the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

. In 1929, he received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. In 1933, The Optical Society elected him an Honorary Member. Asteroid 410619 Fabry is named after him.

References

External links

Biography
in French
Copy of Fabry's ''"Oeuvres Choisies Publiées à l'Occasion de son Jubilé Scientifique"''
1867 births 1945 deaths French optical physicists École Polytechnique alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society Scientists from Marseille University of Paris alumni Academic staff of Aix-Marseille University 20th-century French physicists Recipients of Franklin Medal {{france-physicist-stub