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The year 1656 in science and technology involved some significant events.
1656 (MDCLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1656th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 656th year of the 2nd millennium, the 56th year of the 17th century, and the 7th year of the 1650s decade. As of the start of 1656, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. In physics, Huygens made seminal contributions to optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he studied the rings of Saturn and discovered its largest moon, Titan. As an engineer and inventor, he improved the design of telescopes and invented the pendulum clock, the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. A talented mathematician and physicist, his works contain the first idealization of a physical problem by a set of mathematical parameters, and the first mathematical and mechanistic explanation of an unobservable physical phenomenon.
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force acting on the pendulum's mass causes it to oscillate about the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called the period. The period depends on the length of the pendulum and also to a slight degree on the amplitude, the width of the pendulum's swing.
The year 1918 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The year 1897 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The year 1878 in science and technology involved many significant events, listed below.
The year 1798 in science and technology involved some significant events.
The year 1858 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The year 1761 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.
The year 1675 in science and technology involved some significant events.
The year 1698 in science and technology involved some significant events.
The year 1695 in science and technology involved some significant events.
The year 1659 in science and technology involved some significant events.
The year 1657 in science and technology involved some significant events.
This article deals with the history of classical mechanics.
Samuel Stockhausen was a German physician in the mining town of Goslar. He studied the ancient miner's disease, called Hüttenkatze, among workers in the nearby mines of Rammelsberg in the Harz mountains. In 1656 he published a book, in Latin, attributing the disease to noxious fumes from litharge, Libellus de lithargyrii fumo noxio morbifico, ejusque metallico frequentiori morbo vulgò dicto die Hütten Katze oder Hütten Rauch Because of this he is considered by some to be the first occupational physician. Unlike his near contemporary, Paracelsus, who also wrote about diseases of miners, Stockhausen recognized litharge-derived dust as the causative factor and recommended avoiding inhaling it. This was the first time that the ancient syndrome, known to Romans as morbi metallici, was attributed specifically to chronic poisoning with lead.
An aerial telescope is a type of very long focal length refracting telescope, built in the second half of the 17th century, that did not use a tube. Instead, the objective was mounted on a pole, tree, tower, building or other structure on a swivel ball-joint. The observer stood on the ground and held the eyepiece, which was connected to the objective by a string or connecting rod. By holding the string tight and maneuvering the eyepiece, the observer could aim the telescope at objects in the sky. The idea for this type of telescope may have originated in the late 17th century with the Dutch mathematician, astronomer and physicist Christiaan Huygens and his brother Constantijn Huygens, Jr., though it is not clear if they actually invented it.
Constantijn Huygens Jr., Lord of Zuilichem, was a Dutch statesman and poet, mostly known for his work on scientific instruments. But, he was also a chronicler of his times, revealing the importance of gossip. Additionally, he was an amateur draughtsman of landscapes.
Rømer's determination of the speed of light was the demonstration in 1676 that light has an apprehensible, measurable speed and so does not travel instantaneously. The discovery is usually attributed to Danish astronomer Ole Rømer, who was working at the Royal Observatory in Paris at the time.
Horologium Oscillatorium: Sive de Motu Pendulorum ad Horologia Aptato Demonstrationes Geometricae is a book published by Dutch mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens in 1673 and his major work on pendula and horology. It is regarded as one of the three most important works on mechanics in the 17th century, the other two being Galileo’s Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences (1638) and Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687).