After completing his brilliant studies at the École normale supérieure on rue d'Ulm, he earned his doctorate with a thesis on Riemannian manifolds. He taught in Strasbourg, Nice and then Paris, and was regularly invited to leading American universities. From 1985 to 1993, he served as director of the Institut des hautes études scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette.
His geometry textbooks have delighted students preparing for competitive examinations, particularly Géométrie (1974; a new edition is due from Cassini this year), which approaches geometry from an entirely new angle, and Géométrie différentielle, variétés, courbes et surfaces (with Bernard Gostiaux, PUF, 2013). After retiring, he wrote books offering a broader cultural perspective, such as Géométrie vivante ou l'échelle de Jacob (Cassini, 2009), for knowledgeable readers. Marcel Berger was a gifted mathematician driven by a passionate desire to share his vast knowledge.
