- One of Huygens' biggest discoveries was the true shape of Saturn's rings, and that was only possible due to his new construction of the telescope lens. Before he was able to make this technology to see Saturn clearly, people thought Saturn's rings were like "ears" of the planet. Furthermore, before his contributions to the telescope, no one dreamed of seeing farther into space.
- His interest in the accurate measurement of time led him to discover the pendulum, which is still used in clocks today. Before this, clocks weren't as accurate. Huygens' improvements and inventions paved the way for later scientists to expand on his discoveries.
- Originally, Huygens was interested in mostly math and law. He eventually shifted his interest to telescopes, astronomy, and physics.
- The name Huygens has become to mean something else in recent years. A space probe named after Huygens, built by the European Space Agency, was part of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. The Huygens probe landed on Titan, the moon Huygens discovered.