Centenary of Augustin Fresnel

Annotated English translation of the short speech by H.A. Lorentz, Paris, 27 October 1927, first printed as "Allocution de M. H.-A. Lorentz, au nom des délégations étrangères" ("Speech by Monsieur H.A. Lorentz, on behalf of the foreign delegations"), Revue d'optique, vol. 6 (1927), pp. 514–16, reprinted as "Centenaire D'Augustin Fresnel (1788–1827)" in H.A. Lorentz (ed. P. Zeeman & A.D. Fokker), Collected Papers, vol. 9, The Hague: Nijhoff, 1939, pp. 340–42.