Dutch Light: Christiaan Huygens and the Making of Science in Europe

Hugh Aldersley-Williams has written a scintillating biography of Christiaan Huygens, a brilliant polymath who laid the foundations of modern European science. This book is filled with incident, discovery, and revelation, and it tells the story of the birth of modern science as we know it. Huygens was a towering figure in the fields of astronomy, optics, mechanics, and mathematics, and his innovations in methodology, optics, and timekeeping remain in use to this day. He developed the theory of light travelling as a wave, invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock, and discovered the rings of Saturn.

Format: Hardback
Length: 560 pages
Publication date: 03 September 2020
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

At last, a scintillating biography of Christiaan Huygens! Hugh Aldersley-Williams has evocatively illuminated this brilliant polymath who laid the foundations of modern European science.

Dr Patricia Fara, Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, said, "Fascinating. An impressive piece of scholarship. I learned a lot."

John Gribbin, author of "Six Impossible Things" and "In Search of Schrödinger's Cat," said, "Filled with incident, discovery, and revelation, Dutch Light is a vivid account of Christiaan Huygens's remarkable life and career, but it is also nothing less than the story of the birth of modern science as we know it."

Europes greatest scientist during the latter half of the seventeenth century, Christiaan Huygens was a true polymath. A towering figure in the fields of astronomy, optics, mechanics, and mathematics, many of his innovations in methodology, optics, and timekeeping remain in use to this day.

Among his many achievements, he developed the theory of light traveling as a wave, invented the mechanism for the pendulum clock, and discovered the rings of Saturn - via a telescope that he had also invented.

A man of fashion and culture, Christiaan came from a family of multi-talented individuals whose circle included not only leading figures of Dutch society, but also artists and philosophers such as Rembrandt, Locke, and Descartes.

The Huygens family and their contemporaries would become key actors in the Dutch Golden Age, a time of unprecedented intellectual expansion within the Netherlands. Set against a backdrop of worldwide religious and political turmoil, this febrile period was defined by danger, luxury, and leisure, but also curiosity, purpose, and tremendous possibility.

Following in Huygens's footsteps as he navigates this era while shuttling between the Netherlands, England, and France, Dutch Light offers a captivating glimpse into the life and work of this remarkable scientist and his profound impact on the world of science.

Weight: 854g
Dimension: 164 x 241 x 51 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509893317