Christiaan Huygens

1629 - 1695

Christiaan Huygens was a Dutch scientist who lived in the seventeenth century. He was born in The Hague in 1629 and died in 1695. As the son of a diplomat, Huygens was educated by private tutors and had easy access to the scientific establishment.

Like many scientists of his time, Huygens had wide-ranging interests. He studied both law and mathematics at the University of Leiden. As a mathematician he was involved in the development of calculus and wrote De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae, the first ever printed book on probability theory.

He was also very interested in astronomy. Along with his brother he manufactured telescopes and devised several improvements to their design. In 1655 he discovered Titan, Saturn's moon. He also discovered several other minor astronomical entities. The interior of the Orion Nebula is named the Huygens Region in his honour.

The Pendulum Clock

Huygens' interest in astronomy led naturally to an interest in timekeeping. It was Huygens who was responsible for one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of horology - the invention of the pendulum clock. The use of a pendulum regulator provided a huge increase in the reliability of time measurement and Huygens patented the approach in 1656.

In 1673 Huygens published Horologium Oscillatorium. In this he discussued the theory of the pendulum, the entire first chapter being dedicated to pendulum clocks.

The Southern astronomical constellation Horologium was initially named Horologium Oscillatorium in hounour of Huygens.

The Spring Watch

Huygens' other main contribution to the science of horology was a major improvement in the reliability of the pocket watch.

In 1675 he proposed the use of a coiled spring based regulator. This innovation resulted in a tenfold increase in timekeeping accuracy and meant that watches could now keep accurate time to within five or ten minutes a day. The very first pocket watch with this balance wheel and spring assembly was made according to Huygens' instructions and presented to Louis XIV.

There has always been some dispute as to whther the balance spring should be credited to Huygens or to Robert Hooke, famous for Hooke's Law. It seems likely that it was Hooke who first proposed the concept of a spring regulator but Huygens who first turned this into reality via the coiled spring approach.


External Links:
De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae (pdf)