Had Isaac Newton never lived, Christiaan Huygens would have iconic status for characterizing physical science in the second half of the seventeenth century. Like Newton, Huygens made enormous contributions in mathematics, mechanics and optics. He anticipated Newton in finding the formula for acceleration in the case of circular motion and brilliantly used it to determine the value of the constant of gravitational acceleration, g. He invented the pendulum clock, correctly interpreted the rings of Saturn, found the formula of the catenary curve adopted by a chain fixed at each end, and enunciated the fundamental principle of the wave motion of light.
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