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Huygens, Christiaan (1629 - 1695)

by Nick Greene
for About.com

Definition: Huygens, Christiaan (1629 - 1695): A Dutch physicist who was the leading proponent of the wave theory of light. He also made important contributions to mechanics, stating that in a collision between bodies, neither loses nor gains ``motion'' (his term for momentum). In astronomy, he discovered Titan (Saturn's largest moon) and was the first to correctly identify the observed elongation of Saturn as the presence of Saturn's rings. Show me a picture of Christian Huygens !

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