Christiaan Huygens

“ but as often before, so now, I find the Saying of Archytas true, even to the Letter, That tho’ a Man were admitted into Heaven to view the wonderful Fabrick of the World, and the Beauty of the Stars, yet what would otherwise be Rapture and Extasie, would be but a melancholy Amazement if he had not a Friend to communicate [5] it to. ”

“ The Treatise on Light of Huygens has, however, withstood the test of time: and even now the exquisite skill with which he applied his conception of the propagation of waves of light to unravel the intricacies of the phenomena of the double refraction of crystals, and of the refraction of the atmosphere, will excite the admiration of the student of Optics. It is true that his wave theory was far from the complete doctrine as subsequently developed by Thomas Young and Augustin Fresnel, and belonged rather to geometrical than to physical Optics. ”

“ And this Reason is as much stronger in Venus as its Light is. But since ’tis certain that the Earth and Jupiter have their Water and Clouds, there is no Reason why the other Planets But not just like ours. ”

“ Huygens is the grand seigneur of the republic, the type of aristocratic oligarchy, the jewel and ornament of Dutch liberty. When we consider his imposing character and the positive value of his writings, we may well be surprised that he has not found a modern editor. It is a disgrace to Dutch scholarship that no complete collection of the writings of Huygens exists. ”

“ And as, according to this Philosophy, one holds as certain that the sensation of sight is excited only by the impression of some movement of a kind of matter which acts on the nerves at the back of our eyes, there is here yet one reason more for believing that light consists in a movement of the matter which exists between us and the luminous body. ”

“ Now should we allow the Planets nothing but vast Deserts, lifeless and inanimate Stocks and Stones, and deprive them of all those Creatures that more plainly speak their Divine Architect, we should sink them below the Earth in Beauty and Dignity ”

“ Huygens never married. He died at the Hague on the 8th of June 1695, bequeathing his manuscripts to the university of Leiden, and his considerable property to the sons of his younger brother. In character he was as estimable as he was brilliant in intellect. Although, like most men of strong originative power, he assimilated with difficulty the ideas of others, his tardiness sprang rather from inability to depart from the track of his own methods than from reluctance to acknowledge the merits of his competitors. ”

“ I would believe then that those who love to know the Causes of things and who are able to admire the marvels of Light, will find some satisfaction in these various speculations regarding it, and in the new explanation of its famous property which is the main foundation of the construction of our eyes and of those great inventions which extend so vastly the use of them. ”

“ For if Venus had any such Thing as Sea and Land, the former must necessarily show much more obscure than the other, as anyone may satisfy himself, that from a very high Mountain will but look down upon our Earth. ”

“ A Creature upon whose Account, and for whose Use, whatsoever the Earth brings forth seems to be provided. For every Thing here he converts to his own Ends. With the Trees, Stones, and Metals, he builds himself Houses: the Birds and Fishes he sustains himself with: and the Water and Winds he makes subservient to his Navigation, as he doth the sweet Smell and glorious Colours of the Flowers to his Delight. ”

“ What then, has Venus no Sea, or do the Waters there reflect the Light more than ours do, or their Land less? Or rather (which is most probable in my Opinion) is not all that Light we see reflected from an Atmosphere surrounding Venus, which being thicker and more solid than that in Mars or Jupiter, hinders our seeing any thing of the Globe it self, and is at the same time capable of sending back the Rays that it receives from the Sun? For it is certain that if we looked on the Earth from the outside of the Atmosphere, we should not perceive such a difference as we do from a Mountain ”

“ It is inconceivable to doubt that light consists in the motion of some sort of matter. For whether one considers its production, one sees that here upon the Earth it is chiefly engendered by fire and flame which contain without doubt bodies that are in rapid motion, since they dissolve and melt many other bodies, even the most solid; or whether one considers its effects, one sees that when light is collected, as by concave mirrors, it has the property of burning as a fire does, that is to say it disunites the particles of bodies. ”

“ What a wonderful and amazing Scheme have we here of the magnificent Vastness of the Universe! So many Suns, so many Earths, and every one of them stock’d with so many Herbs, Trees, and Animals, and adorn’d with so many Seas and Mountains! And how must our Wonder and Admiration be increased when we consider the prodigious Distance and Multitude of the Stars?
That their Distance is so immense, that the Space between the Earth and Sun (which is no less than Twelve thousand of the Earth’s Diameters) is almost nothing when compar’d to it, has more Proofs than one to confirm [152] it. ”

“ When light passes across a hollow sphere of glass, closed on all sides, it is certain that it is full of ethereal matter, as much as the spaces outside the sphere. And this ethereal matter, as has been shown above, consists of particles which just touch one another. ”

“ If a Man were admitted to a Survey of Jupiter or Venus, he would no doubt find as great a Number and Variety as he had at home. Let us then, that we may make as near a Guess at, and as reasonable a Judgment of the Matter as we can, consider the many Sorts, and the admirable Difference in the Shapes of our own Animals; running Great Variety of Animals in this Earth. ”

“ Atmosphere, we should observe very little Disparity between Sea and Land. ’Tis the same Thing that hinders us from seeing the Spots in the Moon as plain in the Day as in the Night, because the Vapours that surround the Earth being then enlighten’d by the Rays of the Sun, are an Impediment to our Prospect. ”

“ That which makes me of this Opinion, that those Worlds are not without such a Creature endued with Reason, is, that otherwise our Earth would have too much the Advantage of them, in being the only part of the Universe that could boast of such a Creature so far above, not only Plants and Trees, but all Animals whatsoever: a Creature that has something Divine in him, that knows, and understands, and remembers such an innumerable number of Things ”

“ For I do not find that any one has yet given a probable explanation of the first and most notable phenomena of light, namely why it is not propagated except in straight lines, and how visible rays, coming from an infinitude of diverse places, cross one another without hindering one another in any way. ”

“ However, one will see hereafter that we have to suppose such an equality not so much as a necessity for the propagation of light as for rendering that propagation easier and more powerful; for it is not beyond the limits of probability that the particles of the ether have been made equal for a purpose so important as that of light, at least in that vast space which is beyond the region of atmosphere and which seems to serve only to transmit the light of the Sun and the Stars. ”

“ System and Frame of the Universe; we have so admirable an Invention of Telescopes to help our failing Eye-sight in the view of the Bigness and different Forms of the Planetary Bodies, in the discovery of the Mountains, and the Shadows of them on the Surface of the Moon, in the bringing to light an innumerable multitude of Stars otherwise invisible, that we must necessarily be far their Masters in that Knowledge. ”

“ There does not want an Answer to these Men. For God could not but foresee the Advances Men would make, in their enquiring into the Heavenly Bodies: that they would discover Arts useful and advantageous to Life: that they would cross the Seas, and dig up the Bowels of the Earth. Nothing of all this could happen contrary to the Mind and Knowledge of the Infinite Author of all Things. ”

“ They have it in its monthly Wane and Increase, they see it half, and horned, and full, by turns, just as we do the Body of the Moon. But the Light that they receive of us is five times larger than what we receive from them. ”

“ These being the greatest, and, except Waters, the only Ornament that Nature has bestowed upon the Earth. For not to speak of those many uses that are made of their Wood, there’s no one that is ignorant either of their Beauty or Pleasantness. Now what way can any one imagine for a continual Production and Succession of these Plants, but their bearing Seed? A Method so excellent, that it’s the only one that Nature has here made use of, and so wonderful, that it seems to be designed not for this Earth alone. ”

“ Huygens had little of the sweetness of Hooft or of the sublimity of Vondel, but his genius was eminently bright and vivacious, and he was a consummate artist in metrical form. The Dutch language has never proved so light and supple in any hands as in his, and he attempted no class of writing, whether in prose or verse, that he did not adorn by his delicate taste and sound judgment. A blind admiration for John Donne, whose poems he translated, was the greatest fault of Huygens, who, in spite of his conceits, remains one of the most pleasing of Dutch writers. ”

“ This Position of the Moons, in respect of their Planets, must occasion a great many very surprizing Appearances to their Inhabitants, if they have any, which is very doubtful, but may for the present be suppos’d. An enquiry into our Moon may serve for all the rest. Its Globe is divided into two Parts, in such a manner, that those who live on one Side never lose the sight of us, and those on the other never enjoy it. Except only some few who live on the Confines of each of these, who lose us, and see us again by turns. The Earth to them must seem The Astronomy of the Inhabitants of the Moon. ”

“ Since then the Inhabitants of this Earth, let them be never so few, have had Parts and Genius sufficient for the Attainment of this Knowledge; and there’s no reason to think the Planetary Inhabitants less ingenious or happy than our selves; we have gain’d our Point, and ’tis probable that they are as skilful Astronomers as we can pretend to be. So that now we may venture to deduce some Consequences from such a Supposition.
We have before show’d the necessary Dependence and Connexion, not only of Geometry and Arithmetick, but of Mechanical Arts and Instruments with this Science. ”

“ The Bowels of the Earth likewise contribute much to Man’s Happiness. For what Art and Cunning does he employ in finding, in digging, in trying Metals, and in melting, refining, and tempering them? And from Metals. What Skill and Nicety in beating, drawing or dissolving Gold, so as with inconsiderable Changes to make every Thing he pleases put on that noble Lustre? Of how many and admirable Uses is Iron? and how ignorant in all Mechanical Knowledge were those Nations that were not acquainted with it, so as to have no other Arms but Bows, Clubs, and Spears, made of Wood. ”

“ And the Studies of Arts and Sciences cannot be said to be contrary to Nature, since in the search thereof they are employ’d: especially if we consider how great the natural, desire and love of Knowledge, rooted in all Men is. For it’s impossible this should have been given them upon no Design or Account. But they will urge, that if such a Knowledge is natural, if we were born for it, why are there so very few, especially in Astronomy, that prosecute these Studies? For Europe is the only Quarter of the Earth in which there have been any Advancements made in Astronomy. ”

“ Now in applying this kind of movement to that which produces Light there is nothing to hinder us from estimating the particles of the ether to be of a substance as nearly approaching to perfect hardness and possessing a springiness as prompt as we choose. ”

“ After all, this prodigious quantity of waves which traverse one another without confusion and without effacing one another must not be deemed inconceivable; it being certain that one and the same particle of matter can serve for many waves coming from different sides or even from contrary directions, not only if it is struck by blows which follow one another closely but even for those which act on it at the same instant. ”

“ What belongs to, or has any thing to do with Astronomy, you will see demonstrated, and the rest ingeniously and shrewdly guess’d at, from the Affinity and Relation of the heavenly Bodies to the Earth. ”

“ Now can any one look upon, and compare these Systems together, without being amazed at the vast Magnitude and noble Attendance of these two Planets, in respect of this little Earth of ours? Or can they force themselves to think, that the wise Creator has disposed of all his Animals and Plants here, has furnish’d and adorn’d this Spot only, and has left all those Worlds bare and destitute of Inhabitants, who might adore and worship him ”

“ We know that by means of the air, which is an invisible and impalpable body, Sound spreads around the spot where it has been produced, by a movement which is passed on successively from one part of the air to another; and that the spreading of this movement, taking place equally rapidly on all sides, ought to form spherical surfaces ever enlarging and which strike our ears. Now there is no doubt at all that light also comes from the luminous body to our eyes by some movement impressed on the matter which is between the two ”

“ It is the same in Beasts. So that both for their Happiness and Preservation it’s very probable the rest of the Planets are not without it. Certainly when I consider all these Things, how great, noble, and useful they are; when I consider what an admirable Providence it is that there’s such a Thing as Pleasure in the World, I can’t but think that our Earth, the smallest part almost of the Universe, was never design’d to monopolize so great a Blessing. And thus much for those Pleasures which affect our bodily Senses, but have little or no relation to our Reason and Mind. ”