This is a nice compact and very readable readable scientific biography of Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695), a man who didn't leave a hugely visible footprint on the history of science — unless you're particularly interested in optics or horology you probably won't even remember his name — but was in fact one of the most important European scientists in the interval between Galileo and Newton, and, as Aldersey-Williams argues here, also played a key role in the development of scientific institutions and the modern, collaborative, empirical way of doing science.

It's interesting to see how there was a kind of window of opportunity for science in Northern Europe in the middle of the seventeenth century: the English were setting up the Royal Society, Colbert was trying to harness the power of science to the advancement of his bureaucratic state in France, and there was a lot of openness to cross-border co-operation. There was money for big experiments, and a general relaxation of religious control of ideas. It didn't last long, of course; by the mid-1680s the French had shut the door to Protestants and the English (under Dutch rule) had reverted to their usual opposition to any ideas from the other side of the Channel. But it was long enough for the leading European scientists to consolidate their own private networks and adapt to the new ways of working with rapid publication of new discoveries, replication of results and constructive discussion. It's astonishing, with hindsight, how someone like Christiaan could move around so freely between three countries that were at war with each other — in one or other combination — for quite a big chunk of his life.

As well as talking abut the general situation of seventeenth century Holland, France and Britain, Aldersey-Williams also takes care to put Christiaan in the context of his over-achieving family, especially his father the courtier, diplomat, composer, architect and poet Constantijn (1596-1687) and his brother the lens-grinder, diplomat and secretary to William III, Constantijn (1628-1697).
(The Huygens family included at least four generations of notable Christiaans and Constantijns, all of whom seem to have had major achievements in more than one field, so it soon gets confusing.)

The book is said to be aimed at "general readers", but you would need to know a certain amount about physics (at least high-school level) to get anything much out of it. It's well backed up with references and a generous bibliography. ( )

Christiaan Huygens (1629-95) is not well known today, and if he is it is as the name on the Titan lander spacecraft of 2005. This biography aims to change that and to put Huygens in his proper place in the pantheon of pioneering scientists.

The 17th century was a golden age of the natural sciences and laid the foundations for what we would call today the scientific method and the true sciences. It is during this time that we start to see full-time career scientists appear, along with growing specialisation in a chosen field. The roll call of scientific names in this period is awe-inspiring: Boyle, Hooke, Newton, Cassini, Fermat, Leibniz, Mersenne, Pascal, Leeuwenhoek and more.

Huygens was born into a life of privilege and success and was expected in his turn to be successful and make his mark. A key contributor to the Dutch Golden Age he and his family were intimately involved in many aspects of the political, military and commercial expansion and turmoil of this period.

As a scientist Huygens has an impressive list of achievements: inventor of the pendulum clock mechanism, discoverer of the rings of Saturn and the moon Titan, developer of a wave theory of light and many more across the fields of astronomy, optics, mathematics and mechanics. During his lifetime he was the acknowledged preeminent scientist in Europe and his opinion was constantly sought about whether a particular idea or theory was worth pursuing. Huygens’ approval of ones work was a mark that you had made it.

That he is not routinely mentioned alongside Leibniz and Newton is a puzzle (Huygens was just about the only intellect that Newton acknowledged was equal or even superior to his own). Alderney-Williams gives a convincing explanation that this was at least partly due to Huygens focus on commercially exploitable research; he worked hard at developing a sea-going accurate clock that could be used to measure longitude, for example, and spent much time building and maintaining water features for rich and powerful men.

This is a very readable and interesting work. The Huygens family were remarkable for their involvement in so many key events in Dutch and European history and in their network of key contacts across the Continent. We glimpse the everyday lives of these people. Written for the general reader the detail of the science is played down (for me, I could have stood a little more on this). ( )