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Christiaan Huygens

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Scientist

The Resume

    (April 14, 1629-July 8, 1695)
    Born in The Hague, Netherlands
    Astronomer, inventor, mathematician, physicist
    One of the proponents of the wave theory of light, which states that light was emitted in all directions as a series of waves
    Proposed the second of Isaac Newton's laws of motion in a quadratic form
    Wrote 'Theoremata de quadratura' (1651), 'On Reasoning in Games of Chance', (1657), 'Horologium Oscillatorium' (1673), 'Astroscopia Compendiaria' (1684), 'Treatise on Light' (1690), and 'Cosmotheoros' (1698)
    Improved the telescope (1654)
    Discovered Saturn's rings and its largest moon Titan (March 25, 1655)
    Observed Orion Nebula (1656)
    Invented the pendulum clock (1656), balance wheel, and spring assembly (both in 1675)
    Elected fellow of the Royal Society (1663)
    Died in The Hague, Netherlands

Why he might be annoying:

    His last name was sometimes spelled as Hugens or Huyghens.
    He was often sick since his youth.
    He was often slow to publish his scientific ideas and discoveries.
    His work on light and dynamics was largely overshadowed by those of Isaac Newton for most of the 18th Century.
    It is debated whether he or Robert Hooke was the inventor of the balance spring, with Hooke coming up with the idea first and Huygens first built it.
    He cut off his French correspondents. (1681)
    In his book 'Cosmotheoros', he speculated the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His mother died shortly after giving birth to his younger sister. (1637)
    He developed friendly ties with the intellectual peers of his day.
    His wave theory of light has proven to be correct, in contrast to Newton's theory on light.
    The clocks he designed were the most accurate during his time.
    His work on probability theory pioneered the development of games of chance.
    He managed to continue his work even when France, where he mostly worked at, went to war with the Low Countries, including the Netherlands. (1672)
    To be fair, the primary reason he severed his French ties was because Louis VIX revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had previously granted Protestants a certain amount of freedom. (October 22, 1685)

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 49 Votes: 51.02% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 60 Votes: 50.0% Annoying