Episode Details

Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock, discovered Saturn's rings, and developed the wave theory of light. In any era without Isaac Newton, he would be remembered as the greatest scientist of the 17th century. Instead, history largely forgot him.

This episode explores why Huygens's contributions to physics, astronomy, and mathematics were eclipsed by Newton's fame, and how the rivalry between wave and particle theories of light played out over centuries.

• How the pendulum clock revolutionized navigation and scientific measurement
• His discovery of Titan, Saturn's largest moon
• The wave theory of light and why Newton's supporters buried it
• Why Huygens may have been closer to modern physics than Newton