Huygens' pendulum theory

Factual Questions
1

In the November 7, 2000 edition of The Globe and Mail, there was an article about relaxation music (hence my scepticism) which mentioned the Dutch Phycisist Christian Huygens and his pendulum theory (appx 1660). I’m not certain what the actual name of the theory is, but “the pendulum theory” is pretty descriptive)

The basic theory goes like this: Gather a bunch of clocks with pendulums in one room and eventually all the pendulums will begin to swing in unison.

I’ve done some basic internet searches to read about Huygens, but there have been no mention of this particular theory.

I would like to know if despite Huygens’ other accomplishments, this theory is a dud, or, more importantly, why it isn’t a dud.

Anybody familiar with the concept?

2

Welcome to the SDMB, steve! You will be pleased to learn that the ramblin’ wrecks of Georgia Tech have recreated Huygens’ synchronized oscillation experiment.

3

This only works if all the pendula have the same period, but given that, it’ll work every time. They “communicate” via tiny vibrations through the walls and floor… It’s a small effect, but given enough time, it’ll have them all synched. Of course, thi doesn’t necessarily say anything about the accuracy of other information in that article.