Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch philosopher and mathematician, was one of the leading scientists in the 17th century. He started by trying to disprove theories that had been established by Ancient Greeks in geometry.
He was interested in telescopes and astronomy, and spent a lot of time designing methods to improve the mechanical and optic performance of telescopes.
In his book entitled ‘Systema Saturnium’ published in 1659, he noted the discovery of the rings around the planet Saturn, and made observations about the planets, the Moon, and Orion Nebula. His keen interest in the field of astronomy led him to measure time and other matters that relate to mechanical physics.
One of his most important contributions was that he explained the vital principles of classical physics like centripetal force and gravity in a vacuum in another book of his.
Huygens also put forward a theory explaining the wave behavior of light. His reputation as a scientist and a scholar became known worldwide, and remains so to this day.