Huygens Christiaan. The Pendulum Clock or Geometrical Demonstration Concerning the Motion of Pendula as Applied to Clocks

Iowa State University Press, 1986. — 223 p. — ISBN 9780813809335, 0813809339.This first English translation of Christiaan Huygens’ (1629-1695) greatest work is a classic in the history of science. Originally published in 1673, The Pendulum Clock is the most significant scientific book published in the seventeenth century other than Galileo’s Dialogues and Newton’s Principia.
It combines both science and technology in a single classic work —what is surely one of the earliest applications of sophisticated scientific theory to the design of a practical device. Huygens’ clock is probably the first clock to regulate itself precisely by means of a pendulum and escapement mechanism.
The latter parts of the book include analyses of the motions of falling bodies on a cycloid, the mathematics of evolutes, the centers of oscillation of various bodies, and Huygens’ first publication of his theorems on centrifugal force.
Christiaan's Huygens' book—Horologium oscillatorium is the first modern treatise in which a physical problem is idealized by a set of parameters and then analyzed mathematically. It is one of the seminal works of applied mathematics. The Horologium oscillatorium is a superb tapestry woven from the three strands of the science of Christiaan Huygens: mathematics, mechanics, and technology. As is usually the case with scientists who have such a leaning, the young Huygens assimilated his mathematical lessons easily and showed a precocious interest in building small models. Clocks were another topic of research that occupied Huygens throughout his life. He invented his first clock regulated by a pendulum in 1656, and was still working on elaborate variations capable of going to sea in the late 1680s. Foremost, Huygens' work provided the concept of precise time. His clocks were the first timekeepers to be accurate enough to be reliable in scientific experiments. Once time could be accurately measured, other variables could be graphed against time. From that foundation, it was then possible to proceed to consider instantaneous variation. Although he himself did not go down that path, Huygens opened the way with his exacting mathematical dissections of physical problems into a minimum of parameters.
Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1656 and patented it in 1657. This technology reduced the loss of time by clocks from about 15 minutes to about 15 seconds per day.Series editor’s introduction / Robert E. Schofield.
Introduction / H. J. M. Bos.
Translator’s preface / Richard J. Backwell.
The translation.
To Louis XIV, Renowned King of France and Navarre.
License from the King.
The Pendulum Clock or Geometrical Demonstrations Concerning the Motion of Pendula as Applied to Clocks.
A Description of the Pendulum Clock.
The Falling of Heavy Bodies and Their Motion in a Cycloid.
The Evolution and Dimension of Curved Lines.
The Center of Oscillation.
Another Construction, Based on the Circular Motion of Pendula, and the Theorems on Centrifugal Force.
Index.