Search Results: Christiaan Huygens

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. A leading figure of the Scientific Revolution, Huygens combined research into mathematical-based theories, such as the movement of light waves, with practical...

Keeping good time proved an elusive objective for centuries, and it was only in the second half of the 17th century, during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700), that clocks were made which lost seconds rather than minutes each day. The...

A 1671 portrait by Caspar Netscher of Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), the Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer.

The astronomers of the Scientific Revolution rejected long-held theories of ancient thinkers like Claudius Ptolemy and Aristotle and instead set out to systematically observe the heavens in order to create a model of the universe that fit...

A cameo depicting Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), the Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. Made by Jean-Jacques Clerion c. 1670. (Boerhaave Museum Leiden, Netherlands)

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was the most important microscopist of the Scientific Revolution. The Dutchman made over 500 microscopes, many with a magnification far superior to contemporary models. His discoveries include bacteria...

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French scientist, mathematician, and philosopher whose work influenced both the Scientific Revolution and later European thought. Pascal is known for his practical achievements in science, such as a calculating...

John Harrison (1693-1776) invented an accurate marine chronometer after several decades of research and development. While the pendulum clock had already been invented in the 17th century, a clock that could withstand the vagaries of the...

In this collection, we gather together some of the greatest minds of the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) when European science made great leaps forward, particularly in the fields of astronomy, microscopy, anatomy, and physics. Each scientist...

The foundation of observatories during the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) followed a process of evolution from entirely independent observatories operated by a single astronomer to private observatories which received state or private...