Jules Antoine Lissajous (4.03.1822-24.06.1880) was a French physicist and a corresponding member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1879). He was born in Versailles. He studied (1841—44) at the École Normale, and in 1850 he received the degree of Doctor of Science. He was professor at the Collège Saint-Louis in Paris, in 1874—75 rector of the Academy in Chambéry, and in 1875—79 of the Academy in Besançon.
His work concerned acoustics and optics. He studied the vibrations of thin plates and the propagation of waves. He developed (1855) an optical method of studying the composition of vibrations by means of the so-called Lissajous figures. He invented the optical comparator (1857) and worked on creating a system of optical telegraphy.