Christian Huygens
Proposed the wave theory of light and made significant contributions to mechanics and horology.
Most quoted
"It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth..."
— from Attributed
"One finds in this subject a kind of demonstration which does not carry with it so high a degree of certainty as that of geometry; and which differs distinctly from the method employed by geometers."
— from Treatise on Light, 1690
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."
— from Treatise on Light, 1690
All quotes by Christian Huygens (392)
The pendulum is the measure of time.
I have left the world; I live in solitude; but I have found in the universe the infinity which I could not find in the world.
The laws of reflection and refraction are explained by the wave theory.
There is no doubt that the heavenly bodies are not all at the same distance from us.
The world is a great book, of which they who never stir from home read only a page.
The space between the planets and stars is not empty but filled with a subtle matter, the ether.
I have spent much time in the study of the abstract sciences; the company of few men is capable of it, and I have found not nearly as many advantages as I had hoped.
The cycloid is the tautochrone curve.
The apparent size of the stars is an optical illusion caused by the trembling of the air.
It is a wonderful thing that the pressure of the air, which seems so light, should be capable of such great effects.
The motion of the planets must be regulated by some law.
The ring of Saturn is a thin, flat ring, nowhere touching the planet.
The centrifugal force of the circular motion (of the ether) drives away the surrounding matter from the center.
The universe is vast, and we are but a small part of it.
The shock of two elastic bodies is determined by the conservation of the quantity of motion.
The light of the day is nothing else but the light of the ether agitated by the sun.
The planets are worlds, and the fixed stars are suns.
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.
The laws of mechanics are the foundation of all physical science.
We may well suppose that the inhabitants of other planets are of a different nature from us.
Contemporaries of Christian Huygens
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Christian Huygens (1629–1695).