Constantijn Huygens Junior

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Constantijn Huygens Junior

Constantijn Huygens Junior (* 1628 in The Hague , Netherlands ; † 1697 ) was a Dutch statesman.

Life

Constantijn Huygens Junior was the first son of the poet and statesman Constantijn Huygens and his wife Suzanna van Baerle and the older brother of Christiaan Huygens . In May 1645 he began studying law with his brother at the University of Leiden . They also took courses in the liberal arts . Classical history authors, philosophy, science and mathematics were also part of the course. Like his father, Constantijn became secretary to the rulers of the Netherlands. When in 1689 Wilhelm von Orange, Wilhelm III. of England , Constantijn Jr. was appointed its secretary. Constantijn was involved in Wilhelm's war with France . He lived in the southern Netherlands in the spring and returned to London every autumn .

Huygens is also known for his work on scientific instruments (sometimes in conjunction with his younger brother Christiaan) and as a chronicler of his time.

Telescopes and optics

Tube-free telescope by Christiaan and Constantijn Huygens

When his brother Christiaan began to be interested in telescopes around 1650, Constantijn Huygens supported him in the construction of the lenses. With the first self-built telescope, Christiaan discovered the Saturn moon Titan in 1655 . Constantijn subsequently built objective lenses with ever longer focal lengths , which ultimately led to very large, tube-free air telescopes . In 1690, he presented to the Royal Society a 7.5 inch (190 mm) diameter, 123 foot (37.5 m) focal length aerial telescope lens that still bears his signature. The Royal Society acquired two additional long-range aerial telescope lenses in 1725, both manufactured by Constantijn.

Constantijn Huygens diary

From 1673 to 1696 Constantijn Huygens Jr kept a private diary that is now owned by the Royal Library of the Netherlands . In his diary he records all aspects of the early modern courtly way of life of Holland and England, and he also noted the progress of the two countries in terms of society, culture and general science ( In his diary he recorded all aspects of early- modern court life in Holland and England as well as keeping notes on the two countries society, and culture, and general scientific advancement ). His diary also includes the sexual adventures of contemporaries and thus gives an insight into the history of human sexuality .

Constantijn Huygens painting

A pencil drawing from Zuilichem Castle which is attributed to Constantijn Huygens Jr. with the inscription: "'t huijs te Zuylicher" and "August 1657". The castle was renovated by Constantijn Huygens Sr. in 1630

On April 23, 1630 Constantijn Huygens Sr. bought the castle of Zuilichem near Zaltbommel . His son Constantijn Huygens Jr. painted and made a few drawings of the castle in the period from 1630 to 1660. These can be seen in Zaltbommel's Maarten van Rossum Museum .

literature

Web links

Commons : Constantijn Huygens Jr.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ LIFE of CHRISTIAAN HUYGHENS: Brief Notes. (PDF; 51 kB) (No longer available online.) In: DEPARTMENT of PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY. University of British Columbia, p. 1 , archived from the original on February 19, 2012 ; accessed on November 1, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.physics.ubc.ca
  2. ^ A b David Singmaster: BSHM Gazetteer - LONDON People HM. The British Society for the History of Mathematics, February 28, 2003, accessed November 1, 2009 .
  3. ^ Richard Learner: Astronomy Through the Telescope: The 500 Year Story of the Instruments, the Inventors, and Their Discoveries . Ed .: Van Nostrand Reinhold. New York 1987, ISBN 978-0-442-25839-9 .
  4. ^ Paul Schlyter: Largest optical telescopes of the world. Accessed February 16, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Dr. RM Dekker: Court culture, time consciousness and the development of autobiographical writing in the seventeenth century. An analysis of the diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr. (1628-1697) in a social and cultural context. In: Department of Societal History. NWO Council for the Humanities, August 2010, accessed on February 18, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Pamela H. Smith, Benjamin Schmidt: Making Knowledge in Early Modern Europe: Practices, Objects, and Texts, 1400-1800 . Univ of Chicago Pr, 2008, ISBN 978-0-226-76329-3 , pp. 133 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
personal data
SURNAME Huygens, Constantijn Junior
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch statesman
DATE OF BIRTH 1628
PLACE OF BIRTH The Hague , Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH 1697