On 11 December 1875 Hendrik Lorentz defended his dissertation On the theory of reflection and refraction of light. This topic is closely related to the research of Sir Michael Berry, who has been awarded the 2014 Lorentz medal by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The British physicist Sir Michael Berry, emeritus professor at the University of Bristol, is to receive the award for the development of the theory of the geometric phase, which plays an important role in both the classical and quantum mechanical theory of waves.  The award will be made on 23 February 2015.