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1340
Covex lenses
14th century--convex lenses to correct farsightedness are developed. -
1459
Concave lenses
15th century--concave lenses to correct nearsightedness are developed -
Distance between lenses
1608--In the Netherlands, Hans Lippershey discovers that holding two lenses up some distance apart bring objects closer. He applies for a patent on his invention. This is the first documented creation of a telescope. -
Drawing of the moon
1609--Thomas Harriot (1560 – 1621) English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator becomes the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope -
Galileo Telescope
1609--Galileo, after simply hearing that the device was invented, builds several telescopes of his own and turns them toward the heavens. He dared to publish his findings and was nearly burned at the stake for it -
Named the "telescope"
1611--The term "telescope" is coined by Prince Frederick Sesi at a reception where Galileo is demonstrating his instruments. -
Fields of view
1611--Johannes Kepler switches from a concave eyepiece to a convex eyepiece. This not only allowed a larger field of view, but it allowed for the projection of images -
The longer the scope is the sharper it is
1668--Robert Hooke demonstrates how to shorten the tube by using three or four perfectly flat mirrors to reflect the image back and forth in a shorter tube. A 60-foot long telescope can be reduced to 12 feet long, greatly simplifying support and stability. -
Newton
1668--Newton produces the first successful reflecting telescope, using a two-inch diameter concave spherical mirror, a flat, angled secondary mirror, and a convex eyepiece lens 8 -
Present
New telescopes are trying to figure out the structure of the milky way
