Marcel BRILLOUIN (1854 - 1948)

Born in 1854 in Melle (Deux-Sèvres), Marcel BRILLOUIN moved to Paris in 1872, where he pursued his studies. He entered the Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1874 and obtained his diploma in 1878.

Physics assistant at the Collège de France, he pursued his PhD in Mathematical Physics and obtained his degree in 1881.

He then applied as an assistant professor in Nancy, Dijon and Toulouse, before joining the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1888.

From 1900 to 1931, Marcel BRILLOUIN was a Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Collège de France. He was elected a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1921. He died in Paris in 1948.

Between 1891 and 1898, he proposed a solution for the problem of distance vision. It replaced the Nipkow disc holes with small recessed lenses and thus increased the amount of light received by the photocell.

This was a great step forward for future of television.