TELESCOPE - A Short History
Richard Dunn, £12.99
978-1906367-046
Think of the telescope and your thoughts probably turn to Galileo, who is credited with its creation in 1609 – and which is why this book has been written, to tie in with the International Year of Astronomy (IYA09). However, its roots as an ‘optical instrument for making distant objects appear nearer and larger’ go back much further in time, although the first patent was applied for just a year earlier, in 1608, by a Dutch spectacle-maker. These spyglasses proliferated around Europe, but it was primarily Galileo who used them to view the heavens – which had the ultimate effect of turning the world order on its head. No longer was the earth the centre of everything known.
This geocentric view had been dominant since the time of Aristotle, and the controversy engendered by Galileo's presentation of heliocentrism – where the sun is at the heart - as proven fact, resulted in the Catholic Church's prohibition of its advocacy, contrary as it was to the literal meaning of Holy teaching. Galileo was eventually forced to recant and spent the last years of his life under house arrest, although that did nothing to curtail his continued scientific endeavours.
Man has been staring at the heavens and wondering what’s up there from time immemorial, but until Galileo this had been with the naked eye only. The telescopes constructed for galactic sightings became ever larger (and more unwieldy) whilst those in naval and terrestrial use developed according to their own needs, but at a lightning speed. Taken from the Greek for ‘far-looker’, the telescopium’s influence extended deep into the cultural world of the 17th century, affording new possibilities for perspective in paintings, as well as symbols in portraiture and inspiration for poetry and literature.
Moving on through the centuries, with the Herschels’ reflecting telescope (a piece of which now sits in the grounds of the Greenwich Royal Observatory), followed by the pioneering work of optical firms such as that set up by the Dollond family, the history continues through to binoculars and the astronomical telescopes of today and tomorrow, each chapter throwing up fascinating facts.
Generously illustrated, including diagrammatic representations of the most well-known types of telescopes, a glossary and a timeline, there is far more than just a litany of historical scientific details: films, Alice in Wonderland, bird-watchers – and Samuel Pepys using his telescope whilst in church “by which I had the great pleasure of seeing and gazing at a great many very fine women” – all play their part in enlivening the pages of this captivating volume.