Christiaan Huygens

14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, one of the leading scientists of the seventeenth century. He discovered Saturn's moon Titan, correctly explained Saturn's rings, invented the pendulum clock, and developed the wave theory of light. His Horologium Oscillatorium is regarded as one of the most important works of mathematical physics before Newton's Principia.

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Life events

Born in The Hague
14 April 1629

Christiaan Huygens was born in The Hague into a prominent Dutch family, the son of the diplomat and poet Constantijn Huygens.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied law and mathematics at the University of Leiden
1645 – 1647

Huygens studied at Leiden under Frans van Schooten before continuing at the College of Orange in Breda.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Discovered Titan, the largest moon of Saturn
25 March 1655

Using a telescope he built with his brother, Huygens discovered Saturn's moon Titan on 25 March 1655.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Invented the pendulum clock
December 1656

Huygens designed the first pendulum clock, dramatically improving the accuracy of timekeeping, and patented it in 1657.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Systema Saturnium explaining Saturn's rings
1659

Huygens announced that Saturn is surrounded by a thin, flat ring that touches the planet nowhere, resolving a long-standing astronomical puzzle.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to Paris as a founding member of the French Academy of Sciences
1666

Invited by Louis XIV's minister Colbert, Huygens settled in Paris and became a leading figure of the newly founded Académie des Sciences.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Horologium Oscillatorium
1673

Huygens's treatise on the pendulum clock presented his mathematical theory of oscillation, centrifugal force, and evolutes, a landmark of mathematical physics.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Returned to The Hague from Paris
1681

After a serious illness and amid growing hostility toward Protestants in France, Huygens left Paris and settled again in the Netherlands.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Traité de la Lumière presenting the wave theory of light
1690

Huygens published his treatise on light, formulating what is now called the Huygens-Fresnel principle of wave propagation.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in The Hague
8 July 1695

Huygens died in The Hague after a long illness and was buried in the Grote Kerk.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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