Christiaan Huygens

Christiaan Huygens

Christiaan Huygens
Born 14 April 1629
The Hague, Netherlands
Died 8 July 1695 (aged 66)
Netherlands
Residence Netherlands, France
Nationality Dutch
Fields Physics
Mathematics
Astronomy
Horology
Science fiction
Institutions Royal Society of London
French Academy of Sciences
Alma mater University of Leiden
College of Orange
Doctoral advisor Frans van Schooten
John Pell
Known for Titan
Explanation Saturn's rings
Centrifugal force
Collision formulae
Pendulum clock
Huygens–Fresnel principle
Wave theory
Birefringence
First theoretical physicist
Influences René Descartes
Frans van Schooten
Blaise Pascal
Marin Mersenne
Influenced Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Isaac Newton

Christiaan Huygens, FRS (English pronunciation: /ˈhaɪɡənz/, Dutch: [ˈhœyɣəns]; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a prominent Dutch mathematician, astronomer, physicist, horologist, and writer of early science fiction. His work included early telescopic studies elucidating the nature of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan, the invention of the pendulum clock and other investigations in timekeeping, and studies of both optics and the centrifugal force.

Huygens achieved note for his argument that light consists of waves,[1] now known as the Huygens–Fresnel principle, which became instrumental in the understanding of wave-particle duality. He generally receives credit for his discovery of the centrifugal force, the laws for collision of bodies, for his role in the development of modern calculus and his original observations on sound perception (see repetition pitch). Huygens is seen as the first theoretical physicist as he was the first to use formulae in physics.

Contents

Life

Christiaan Huygens by Bernard Vaillant, Museum Hofwijck, Voorburg
Christiaan Huygens. Cut from the engraving following the painting of Caspar Netscher by G. Edelinck, between 1684 and 1687.
Spring driven pendulum clock, designed by Huygens, built by instrument maker Salomon Coster (1657), [2] and manuscript Horologium Oscillatorium ,[3] Museum Boerhaave, Leiden
Huygens' telescope without tube. Picture from his 1684 Astroscopia Compendiaria tubi optici molimine liberata (compound telescopes without a tube)
Huygens' explanation for the aspects of Saturn, Systema Saturnium, 1659.

Christiaan Huygens was born in April 1629 at The Hague, the second son of Constantijn Huygens, (1596–1687), a friend of mathematician and philosopher René Descartes, and of Suzanna van Baerle (deceased 1637), whom Constantijn had married on 6 April 1627. Christiaan studied law and mathematics at the University of Leiden and the College of Orange in Breda. After a stint as a diplomat, Huygens turned to science.

French Academy of Sciences and Royal Society

The Royal Society elected Huygens a member in 1663. In the year 1666 Huygens moved to Paris where he held a position at the French Academy of Sciences under the patronage of Louis XIV. Using the Paris Observatory (completed in 1672) he made further astronomical observations. In 1684 he published "Astroscopia Compendiaria" which presented his new aerial (tubeless) telescope.

Death

Huygens moved back to The Hague in 1681 after suffering serious illness. He attempted to return to France in 1685 but the revocation of the Edict of Nantes precluded this move. Huygens died in The Hague on 8 July 1695, and was buried in the Grote Kerk.[4]

Scientific work

Mathematics

Probability theory

After Blaise Pascal encouraged him to do so, Huygens wrote the first book on probability theory,[5] De ratiociniis in ludo aleae ("On Reasoning in Games of Chance"),[6] which he had published in 1657.

Physics

Mechanics

Huygens formulated what is now known as the second law of motion of Isaac Newton in a quadratic form. Newton reformulated and generalized that law. In 1659 Huygens derived the now well-known formula for the centripetal force, exerted by an object describing a circular motion, for instance on the string to which it is attached, in modern notation:

F_{c}=\frac{m\ v^2}{r}

with m the mass of the object, v the velocity and r the radius. Furthermore, Huygens concluded that Descartes' laws for the elastic collision of two bodies must be wrong and formulated the correct laws.

Wave theory

Huygens is remembered especially for his wave theory of light, expounded in his Treatise on light, 1678 (see also Huygens-Fresnel principle). The later theory of light by Isaac Newton in his Opticks proposed a different explanation for reflection, refraction and interference of light assuming the existence of light particles. The interference experiments of Thomas Young vindicated Huygens' wave theory in 1801, as the results could no longer be explained with light particles (see however wave-particle duality).

Optics

Huygens experimented with double refraction (birefringence) in Icelandic crystal (calcite) and explained it with his wavetheory and polarised light.

Clocks

Clocks, suitable for naval navigation. His invention of the pendulum clock, patented in 1657, was a breakthrough in timekeeping. Huygens was a scholar, scientist, and inventor, not a clockmaker, and is not known to have ever made any clock himself; he contracted the construction of his clock designs to Salomon Coster in The Hague, who actually built the first pendulum clocks.

In 1673 he published his mathematical analysis of pendulums, Horologium Oscillatorium sive de motu pendulorum, his greatest work on horology. It had been discovered that pendulums are not isochronous for swings; that is, their period depends on the width of swing. Huygens analysed this problem by finding the shape of the curve down which a mass will slide under the influence of gravity in the same amount of time, regardless of its starting point; the so-called tautochrone problem. By geometrical methods which were an early use of calculus, he showed that this curve is a cycloid, not the circular arc of a pendulum's bob, so pendulums are not isochronous. He also solved the problem of how to calculate the period of a pendulum made of an arbitrarily shaped swinging rigid body, discovering the center of oscillation and its reciprocal relationship with the pivot point. In the same work, he analysed the conical pendulum, consisting of a weight on a cord moving in a circle, using the concept of centrifugal force.

Huygens was the first to derive the formula for the period of an ideal mathematical pendulum (with massless rod or cord), in modern notation:

T = 2 \pi \sqrt{\frac{l}{g}}

with T the period, l the length of the pendulum and g the gravitational acceleration.

Huygens also observed that two pendulums mounted next to each other on the same support will become synchronized, swinging in opposite directions, which he referred to as "odd sympathy". This was the first observation of what is now called coupled oscillations.

The oldest known Huygens style pendulum clock is dated 1657 and can be seen at the Museum Boerhaave in Leiden[7][8][9][10] which also shows an important astronomical clock owned and used by Huygens.

Huygens also developed a balance spring clock more or less contemporaneously with, though separately from, Robert Hooke, and controversy over whose invention was the earlier persisted for centuries. In February 2006, a long-lost copy of Hooke's handwritten notes from several decades' Royal Society meetings was discovered in a cupboard in Hampshire, and the balance-spring controversy appears by evidence contained in those notes to be settled in favor of Hooke's claim.[11][12]

Internal combustion and other inventions

In 1673, Huygens carried out experiments with internal combustion. Although he designed a basic form of internal combustion engine, fueled by gunpowder, he never successfully built one.

In 1675, Christiaan Huygens patented a pocket watch. He also invented numerous other devices, including a 31 tone to the octave keyboard instrument which made use of his discovery of 31 equal temperament.

Astronomy

Saturn's rings and Titan

In 1655, Huygens proposed that Saturn was surrounded by a solid ring, "a thin, flat ring, nowhere touching, and inclined to the ecliptic." Using a 50 power refracting telescope that he designed himself, Huygens also discovered the first of Saturn's moons, Titan.[13] In the same year he observed and sketched the Orion Nebula. His drawing, the first such known of the Orion nebula, was published in Systema Saturnium in 1659. Using his modern telescope he succeeded in subdividing the nebula into different stars. (The brighter interior of the Orion Nebula bears the name of the Huygens Region in his honour.) He also discovered several interstellar nebulae and some double stars.

Transit of Mercury

Possible depiction of Huygens left of center, detail from l'French: Établissement de l'Académie des Sciences et fondation de l'observatoire', 1666 by Henri Testelin. Colbert presents the members of the newly founded Académie des Sciences to king Louis XIV of France, around 1675.
Huygens on the Dutch 25-guilder banknote from 1950s, showing his country house Hofwijck, Saturn, its moon Titan and an eclipse.

On 3 May 1661, he observed the planet Mercury transit over the Sun, using the telescope of telescope maker Richard Reeves in London together with astronomer Thomas Streete and Richard Reeves.[14]

Extraterrestrial Life

Christiaan Huygens believed in existence of extraterrestrial life. Prior to his death in 1695, he completed a book entitled Cosmotheoros in which he discussed his notions on extraterrestrial life. Huygens was of the opinion that life on other planets is pretty much similar to that on Earth. He thought that availability of water in liquid form was essential for existence of life and therefore the properties of water should vary from planet to planet, since the kind of water that is found on Earth would instantly freeze on Jupiter and vaporize on Venus. He even reported observing dark and bright spots on the surface of planet Mars and Jupiter. This he explained could only be justified by existence of water and ice on those planets.[15]

Works

Tome I: Correspondance 1638-1656 (1888). Tome II: Correspondance 1657-1659 (1889). Tome III: Correspondance 1660-1661 (1890). Tome IV: Correspondance 1662-1663 (1891). Tome V: Correspondance 1664-1665 (1893). Tome VI: Correspondance 1666-1669 (1895). Tome VII: Correspondance 1670-1675 (1897). Tome VIII: Correspondance 1676-1684 (1899). Tome IX: Correspondance 1685-1690 (1901). Tome X: Correspondance 1691-1695 (1905).
Tome XI: Travaux mathématiques 1645-1651 (1908). Tome XII: Travaux mathématiques pures 1652-1656 (1910).
Tome XIII, Fasc. I: Dioptrique 1653, 1666 (1916). Tome XIII, Fasc. II: Dioptrique 1685-1692 (1916).
Tome XIV: Calcul des probabilités. Travaux de mathématiques pures 1655-1666 (1920).
Tome XV: Observations astronomiques. Système de Saturne. Travaux astronomiques 1658-1666 (1925).
Tome XVI: Mécanique jusqu’à 1666. Percussion. Question de l’existence et de la perceptibilité du mouvement absolu. Force centrifuge (1929). Tome XVII: L’horloge à pendule de 1651 à 1666. Travaux divers de physique, de mécanique et de technique de 1650 à 1666. Traité des couronnes et des parhélies (1662 ou 1663) (1932). Tome XVIII: L'horloge à pendule ou à balancier de 1666 à 1695. Anecdota (1934). Tome XIX: Mécanique théorique et physique de 1666 à 1695. Huygens à l’Académie royale des sciences (1937).
Tome XX: Musique et mathématique. Musique. Mathématiques de 1666 à 1695 (1940).
Tome XXI: Cosmologie (1944).
Tome XXII: Supplément à la correspondance. Varia. Biographie de Chr. Huygens. Catalogue de la vente des livres de Chr. Huygens (1950).

Portraits

During his lifetime

Named after Huygens

Science

Other

See also

References

  1. ↑ Christiaan Huygens, Traité de la lumiere (Leiden, Netherlands: Pieter van der Aa, 1690), Chapter 1. (Note: In the preface to his Traité, Huygens states that in 1678 he first communicated his book to the French Royal Academy of Sciences.)
  2. ↑ "Boerhaave Museum Top Collection: Hague clock (Pendulum clock) (Room 3/Showcase V20)". Museumboerhaave.nl. http://www.museumboerhaave.nl/AAcollection/english/M03V20_V09853.html. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 
  3. ↑ "Boerhaave Museum Top Collection: Horologium oscillatorium, siue, de motu pendulorum ad horologia aptato demonstrationes geometricae (Room 3/Showcase V20)". Museumboerhaave.nl. http://www.museumboerhaave.nl/AAcollection/english/M03V20_g13604.html. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 
  4. ↑ "GroteKerkDenHaag.nl" (in (Dutch)). GroteKerkDenHaag.nl. http://www.grotekerkdenhaag.nl/. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 
  5. ↑ "I believe that we do not know anything for certain, but everything probably." —Christiaan Huygens, Letter to Pierre Perrault, 'Sur la préface de M. Perrault de son traité del'Origine des fontaines' [1763], Oeuvres Complétes de Christiaan Huygens (1897), Vol. 7, 298. Quoted in Jacques Roger, The Life Sciences in Eighteenth-Century French Thought, ed. Keith R. Benson and trans. Robert Ellrich (1997), 163. Quotation selected by W.F. Bynum and Roy Porter (eds., 2005), Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations ISBN 0-19-858409-1 p. 317 quotation 4.
  6. ↑ p963-965, Jan Gullberg, Mathematics from the birth of numbers, W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN 978-0-393-04002-9
  7. ↑ Hans van den Ende: "Huygens's Legacy, The Golden Age of the Pendulum Clock", Fromanteel Ldt., 2004,
  8. ↑ van Kersen, Frits & van den Ende, Hans: Oppwindende Klokken - De Gouden Eeuw van het Slingeruurwerk 12 September - 29 November 2004 [Exhibition Catalog Paleis Het Loo]; Apeldoorn: Paleis Het Loo,2004,
  9. ↑ Hooijmaijers, Hans; Telling time - Devices for time measurement in museum Boerhaave - A Descriptive Catalogue; Leiden: Museum Boerhaave, 2005
  10. ↑ No Author given; Chistiaan Huygens 1629-1695, Chapter 1: Slingeruurwerken; Leiden: Museum Boerhaave, 1988
  11. ↑ nature - International Weekly Journal of Science, number 439, pages 638-639, 9 February 2006
  12. ↑ Notes and Records of the Royal Society (2006) 60, pages 235-239, 'Report - The Return of the Hooke Folio' by Robyn Adams and Lisa Jardine
  13. ↑ Ron Baalke, Historical Background of Saturn's Rings
  14. ↑ Peter Louwman, Christiaan Huygens and his telescopes, Proceedings of the International Conference, 13 – 17 April 2004, ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands, ESA, sp 1278, Paris 2004
  15. ↑ "Johar Huzefa (2009) Nothing But The Facts - Christiaan Huygens". Brighthub.com. 2009-09-28. http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/50441.aspx. Retrieved 2010-06-13. 

Further reading

External links

Primary sources, translations

Museums

Other