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Magnifying glass

Optical science

Inspired by the discoveries of scientists such as René Descartes and Galileo Galilei, the Dutch physicist, mathematician and astronomer Christiaan Huygens directed his attention from 1652 onwards to developing optical instruments such as lenses, microscopes and telescopes.

With a telescope of his own making he discovered Saturn, at that time the most distant known planet in our solar system. On 25 March 1655, Huygens saw that a moon rotates around Saturn, and later he also saw the ring around the planet. Huygens was not the only Dutchman to work on optics: the philosopher Spinoza, with whom Huygens collaborated, was a lens-grinder.

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Jasper Visser
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