Christiaan huygens biography summary
Christiaan huygens biography summary printable!
Huygens, Christiaan (Also Huyghens, Christian)
(b. The Hague, Netherlands, 14 April 1629; d.
Christiaan huygens biography summary
The Hague, 8 July 1695)
physics, mathematics, astronomy, optics.
Huygens belonged to a prominent Dutch family. His grandfather, also Christiaan Huygens, served William the Silent and Prince Maurice as secretary.
In 1625 his father, Constantijn, became a secretary to Prince Federic Henry and served the Orange family for the rest of his life, as did Christiaan’s brother Constantijn.
Along with this tradition of diplomatic service to the house of Orange, the Huygens family had a strong educational and cultural tradition.
The grandfather took an active part in the education of his children, and thus Huygens’ father acquired great erudition in both literature and the sciences. He corresponded with Mersenne and Descartes, the latter often enjoying his hospitality in The Hague.
Constantijn was a man of taste in the fine arts, talented in drawing, a musician and fertile composer, and, abo