By taking our sense of sight far beyond the realm of our forebears' imagination, these wonderful instruments, the telescopes, open the way to a deeper and more perfect understanding of nature.
—René Descartes, 1637
The first telescope was used in the Netherlands in 1608. They attempted to patent the device with the description of it being that it "aided in seeing faraway things as though nearby". The government denied their patent, stating it was too easy to copy. The first telescope had a convex and a concave lens in a tube.
A drawing of what the first telescope looked like can be seen below.
Galileo Galilei did some upgrades to the telescope in 1609 and on. His telescopes were of a more powerful magnification and very popular. Observing space through his telescopes gave the rise to the thinking that the planets circled around the sun. His telescopes used a concave eyepiece lens and a convex objective lens.
All telescope makers faced the difficulty of finding glass for the lenses that was pure and without iron impurities which caused a green tinge when looking through the scope.
Seeing therefore the Improvement of Telescopes of given length by Refractions is desperate, I contrived heretofore a Perspective by Reflexions, using instead of an Object-glass a concave metal.
—Newton, Opticks, 1704
Newton designed an even better telescope and presented it to England's Royal Society in 1672. This telescope had the capability of a magnification of about 40.
Captain Fantastics:
ReplyDeleteFor thousands of years artists and scientists have created stories or images about the sky and its constellations to explain our vast universe.
Look at the stars! Look, look at the skies!
O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!
— Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) even though this is after the 17th century:
Many of the objects in the collection of the Art Institute were inspired by a common quest, throughout the millennia, to understand one’s place in the universe and explore the unknown.
The Maya civilization was among the early cultures to erect monuments that investigated the human relationship to the cosmos and the cycles of life.
~Stacey The Court of Hearts
I think it is amazing how people in 1608 had enough knowledge of their current technology to make telescopes. They may not have been very good, but it was only the beginning of telescopes. As time went on, people learned how to improve what they had. These people have allowed us today to become more knowledgeable in astronomy. Without them, we wouldn’t know everything that we currently know about space. We also wouldn’t have microscopes if telescopes were never invented. The invention of telescopes has had a bigger impact on society then many people may think.
ReplyDeletePosted by Robert – The Fab Four
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ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how in 1608, with the limited technology, these scientist were able to conjure the concept of a telescope and then construct it. More than anything thus far, the creation of the telescope had a major impact on how the sciences were conducted. There have been many revisions and upgrades to the first refracting telescope; the long focal length refractors, followed by the Aerial Telescopes, Reflecting telescope which allowed us to view space and gain knowledge of our Solar System and planet placement; most recently within the past century the Gamma Ray, Ultra Violet and the Infrared Telescopes. These advancements have allowed scientist to make big strides within the field of Astronomy. The Arts were also influenced by the telescope; thanks to the telescope there are paintings of our solar system, Galileo was able to produce the Heliocentric Model, and there were many poets like Shakespeare whom inspired by the beauty of our sky wrote many of his works. As a society we have reaped the benefits of the telescope by acquiring knowledge of our constellations and what lies beyond. Advances and revisions to the telescope have helped our society become more informed and educated. Like our society, telescope technology has progressed and will continue to grow to meet our ever changing demands.
ReplyDeleteWhen observing the developments of astronomy alone, it is fascinating to see all of the assets that it includes. Looking at the telescope and how such a simple thing evolved into something that has astounded the entire world. The science behind the telescope that allows you to see the outer space is amazing! People’s minds that were able to develop such things were clear geniuses. Society was impacted by these telescopes because they allowed individuals to see another world outside of the clouds and past the sun. The artist perspective could be considered as the advancements of the physical telescope. Making it smaller or larger, changing the lens or the eyepiece. The telescope seemed to be unlike any other technological advancement.
ReplyDelete-Alisha Rickert
It is amazing just how far we have come in our research about space. And how like eliencode said that in 1608, without the use of modern technology, how someone was able to come up with this idea. It is a shame that the idea could not be patented at that time, but it was made better by Galileo. We have moved from just looking at the stars through a lenses, but now we are exploring them through space shuttle launches. The whole space thing, always interested me, but not too much. Even Disney World has a whole ride geared towards space..."MissionSPACE" Good research, well done
ReplyDeleteI agree with you guys in saying that it is truely magical that 400 years ago this idea of making the distant stars so available to the naked eye. Without the technology we have and the history provided, imagine living in a time where you didn't know what was up there? You saw little bright dots, but what are they? The telescope is a beautiful invention becuase the night sky is a beautiful canvas.
ReplyDeletePersonally the invention telescope is one of the most important technological advancements in the last 400 years. The ability to see distant objects with the use of the lenses is truly amazing. Space technology and the telescope have allowed us to witness things we never thought possible. The images that we receive from the Hubble telescope in space are beautiful as well as impressive.
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge of astronomy along with space technology makes space exploration possible. I agree with many of the above posters when saying that it is really impressive that the first telescope was used in 1608. As the years went by and science and technology improved so did the telescopes. From learning more about astronomy we have come to understand who and where we are in the universe and more about far off galaxies. We have learned about the universe’s origins, put men on the moon, sent the NASA rover to Mars, and discovered thousands of planets unseen by the human eye. Telescopes and understanding astronomy has also made many convinces in our everyday lives possible. Where would we be without weather forecasting, communication satellites, and global positioning systems? The sky has also inspired countless numbers of writers and artists. Now that they could get a closer look, their imaginations could travel further through the unknown wonders of the universe.
ReplyDeleteTake into consideration that stars were used as navigational tools. For the religious among us, the wise men followed the north star. Boats at sea relied heavily on the stars to navigate them to distant lands.
ReplyDeleteThink about the idea that the night sky viewed in 1608 is very different than the night sky we view today. How many unmapped stars have burned out?
Now we have/had telescopes in space sending back images of galaxies light years away from the planet that put the telescope into space.
Space being unlimited will always be a curiosity.
It is wonderful that something that was just a thought has brought us such amazing things to view. To think originally the government denied the patent for this wonderful invention. People are now able to view the most beautiful things in the sky and learn more about why the stars and the planets exist. I believe telescopes opened a huge door for science, art, and society.
ReplyDeleteTelescopes being created back then is amazing if you think about. To think that someone create technology and look at the stars. I believe its the reason why we have calenders now a days.
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