History of Telescopes

The invention of the telescope played an important role in advancing our

understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. While there is evidence that the
principles of telescopes were known in the late 16th century, the first telescopes
were created in the Netherlands in 1608.

The first person to apply for a patent for a telescope was Hans Lipperhey. Hans
was a Dutch eye-glass maker. Lipperhey was born in Wesel, now in western
Germany, around 1570. He settled in Middelburg, the capital of the province of
Zeeland, now in the Netherlands, in 1594, married the same year and became a
citizen of Zeeland in 1602.

Galileo, in full Galileo Galilei, (born February 15, 1564, Pisa [Italy]—died January
8, 1642, Arcetri, near Florence), Italian natural philosopher, astronomer, and
mathematician who made fundamental contributions to the sciences of motion,
astronomy, and strength of materials and to the development of the scientific
method. His formulation of (circular) inertia, the law of falling bodies, and
parabolic trajectories marked the beginning of a fundamental change in the study
of motion. His insistence that the book of nature was written in the language of
mathematics changed natural philosophy from a verbal, qualitative account to a
mathematical one in which experimentation became a recognized method for
discovering the facts of nature. Finally, his discoveries with the
telescope revolutionized astronomy and paved the way for the acceptance of the
Copernican heliocentric system, but his advocacy of that system eventually
resulted in an Inquisition process against him.

Galileo's first telescope was basically a tube containing two lenses. His first
attempt was a three-power instrument; this was followed by one that magnified
objects approximately nine times. He showed the latter device to the Venetian
senate, hoping to impress them with its commercial and military potential.