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Christiaan Huygens's Life And Accomplishments

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Christiaan Huygens was a Dutch scientist born on April 14th, 1629 at The Hague in the Netherlands, where he also died on July 8, 1695 at the age of 66. Christiaan Huygens had a very easy life in which the only real struggles he faced were periodic sessions of illness in varying degrees of seriousness throughout his life. He later succumbed to one of his more severe illnesses. He was born into a wealthy and notable family. His father, Constantin Huygens, was secretary to the princes of Orange. His father was good friends with Galileo Galilei and Rene Descartes, two incredibly important scientists and philosophers in this period of tremendous scientific knowledge expansion. Huygens was educated by his father at home until he was sixteen …show more content…

He studied the classical and modern methods of mathematics of Descartes. Throughout this time, his father drew French mathematician Marin Mersenne’s attention to Christiaan’s study on falling objects which opened up a direct communication between Christian and Mersenne. From 1647 to 1649, Christiaan studied law and mathematics at the newly founded College of Orange at Breda. After his studies, it would have been normal for a man born into a wealthy family with a good education to pursue a career in diplomacy. Due to the death of William II, the opportunity for pursuing work in diplomacy was no longer available to Christiann Huygens. However, his interest in mathematics and the sciences was significant and he had no desire to be involved with such diplomacy issues. He resided at home in his father’s house until 1666. His father believed in his abilities so strongly that he supplied his son with a financial allowance that allowed him to solely dedicate himself to his research. He travelled to London and Paris during this time, where he made many significant personal contacts within the scientific and mathematical communities. The years from 1650-1666 were the most productive and important years of Huygens’

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His mom died of cancer when he was fourteen. It was also around the same time he almost lost his vision to an illness. Almost losing his vision had a major impact on his career choices. Huxley focused on writing rather than concentrating on science because of his vision. Huxley played-out the last few years of his life analyzing mysticism, parapsychology and consuming mescaline and LSD.

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Ever since a young age, her father Theon, a Greek scholar and member of the famous museum in Alexandria enforced the qualities of a “perfect human being” upon her, and educated her in the likes of art, literature, philosophy, science, mathematics, physical activity and speech. Education that was typically unavailable to women and education that provided a foundation for her future achievements. From around 380-400 CE, Hypatia began to become a prominent mathematics, science, astronomy and philosophy teacher at the University of Alexandria who expanded upon the works of her predecessors, refining mathematical concepts, developing new theories, writing commentaries/textbooks and even creating new inventions. Throughout her career, she authored several treatises on algebra, number theory, and geometry, and insightfully contributed to commentaries on various works which were highly regarded in her time. As Hypatia was such a popular, powerful teacher, drawing loyal crowds from far and wide, there were numerous opportunities for her to work with her students.

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When he grew older his father sent him to study in at the time was the “Scholarly Center of the World.” This was in Alexandria, Egypt. While he was there he studied Aristotle, Plato, and Euclid. This is where he figured out he was a genius of mathematics.

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George didn’t want to grow up to be a mathematical genius, but then he did become one. He was inspired by his dad that loved math and passed it down to George. When he hit 16 he started to teach, at 20 he opened up his own school. George struggled with Isaac Newton's principia and the works of the 18th and 19th century. In 1844 he was concentrating on the uses on combined algebra that was complex.

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