14 April 2023

Enlightened minds

On the occasion of Christiaan Huygens’ 394th birthday on 14 April 2023, the Huygens Institute for Netherlands History and Culture (KNAW), the Institut français NL and Stichting Haegsche Tijd are organising a lecture afternoon at Sociëteit De Witte in Huygens’ hometown, The Hague. The theme of this afternoon is the relationship between the French philosopher René Descartes, who spent a long time in the Republic, and Huygens, who achieved fame as the first scientific director of the Académie Royale in Paris. Both played a crucial role in the stormy developments of science in general, and of theory and practice of visual perception in particular. On this afternoon, four leading experts shed light on these two scientists.