Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle

by C. D. Andriesse , Translated by Sally Miedema

• ISBN13: 9780521181433
• ISBN10: 0521181437
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle is the story of the great seventeenth-century Dutch mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens (16291695). Originally published in 2005, this comprehensive biography describes in detail how Huygens arrived at discoveries and inventions that are often wrongly ascribed to Newton. Huygens played a key role in the 'scientific revolution', and the Huygens Principle on the wave theory of light helped establish his reputation. The discovery of Saturn's rings and the invention of the pendulum clock made him so famous that he was invited to be the first director of the French Academy of Science, but his life as director teetered on the edge of powerlessness. Despite Huygens' many achievements no complete biography had previously been published in English. This book gives scientists and historians the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of Huygens' life while bringing his story to a wider audience.

Table of Contents

Preface

A commemoration

Titan

Father

Mother

Family portrait

Student

Collisions

Saturn

Force

Temperament

Weight

Crisis

Light

Dismissal

Orphan

Heaven

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.