The boards of the Histechnica Association and of the KIVI Department of the Historyof Engineering are pleased to invite you to attend a lecture to be delivered by Mr ProfDr F.J. Dijksterhuis entitled:

"The Ingenious Thinking of Christiaan Huygens"

on Saturday 11 May 2024

Location: Science Centre, Bouwcampus 26, entrance 'C', Van der Burghweg 1, 2628 CS Delft.

PLEASE NOTE: Location has changed! Entrance is from car park behind high-rise building. Access to car park is by driving licence or payment card.

Christiaan Huygens by Caspar Netscher 1671

Programme

10.30 hrs: Walk-in with coffee and tea

11:00: Welcome and introduction

11.05:00: Lecture by Mr Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis

12:00 hrs: Break

12:15: Continuation of lecture and concluding discussion

12:45: End of meeting.

Prior to the lecture, the General Members' Meeting of KIVI History of Engineering Section will take place (start 10:00 am). The documents for this can be downloaded here.

Summary of the lecture

Christiaan Huygens hardly needs introduction as the greatest Dutch scientist of the Golden Age. His significance for the development of mathematical physics is obvious, the key figure between Galileo and Descartes on the one hand, Newton and Leibniz on the other. The rules of collision, the pendulum law and cycloid isochrony, the principle of wave propagation; his contributions are innumerable. With all these theoretical insights, tools were never far away: clocks, telescopes, and so on. Huygens' thinking took shape in interaction with clever constructions and well-thought-out mechanics. It was ingenious thinking, more in the spirit of Galileo than the cosmological reflections of Descartes and Newton. 'My little Archimedes', his father affectionately called him.

Balance sheet with balance spring 1675

Information about the speaker

Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis is lecturer in the history of science at the University of Twente and associate professor of early modern knowledge history at the Free University. He obtained his PhD in 1999 with a study of Huygens' optics, Lenses and Waves, and has since been working on the early modern cultural history of the mathematical sciences. Optics, and everything around light, vision and colour, has his particular interest in this regard. He has published on, among others, Simon Stevin, Cornelis Drebbel, Isaac Beeckman, Ole Roemer, E.W. Tschirnhaus, and J.H. Lambert.

To attend this lecture, please register

  • KIVI members should register via the KIVI website
  • Members of Histechnica should register through the secretary hotzeboonstra@gmail.com.
  • Interested parties who are not members can also register through the above channels. There will then be a charge of ā‚¬5.00.

The lecture will be broadcast live; you should also register for this through the above channels. You will receive the link for participation upon registration.

Upcoming activities in Science Center Delft

  • Saturday 22 June 2024 at 11:00 lecture by Prof F.J. Abbink: "Reduction of CO2 by civil aviation".
  • Saturday 14 September 2024 at 11:00 am, details to follow
  • Saturday 26 October 2024 at 11:00 a.m. lecture by drs G. Moeyes "Establishments for experimental maritime hydrodynamic model research in the Netherlands, from the 18th century to the present"
  • Saturday 16 November 2024 at 11:00 am, details to follow.
  • Saturday 14 December 2024 at 11:00 am details to follow.

Basque Country study tour 2024: it is fully booked.

On the occasion of the 175th anniversary of KIVI in 2022, the History of Engineering Department has published a book highlighting the three founders of KIVI in the times in which they lived. The book will be available free of charge during the lecture for members of Histechnica and for members of the KIVI Department of History of Engineering.

On the occasion of Histechnica's 50th anniversary, a book "Uit Falen Vooruitgang Halen" was published on Saturday 20 April last. The book will be available free of charge during the lecture.

Documents