The article “The Telescope in the Seventeenth Century” was written by Van Helden in 1974. The author discloses the science behind the invention of the telescope and how it affected humanity’s future and development. Van Helden (1974) argues that the telescope was invented in approximately the 1600s but became known to the general public in 1608 when a patent for this invention was approved by the government of Italy. Kepler’s publication of the book “Dioptrique” influenced the field of optics and presented the theoretical basis of image formation, which allowed Gallileo to construct better prototypes of a telescope. This paper will summarize the article by Van Helden and present the analysis of the author’s arguments.
The telescope introduced by Gallileo has been the preferred tool among the sky’s observers for many years, even though the option developed by Kepler would allow using measuring devices as well. However, Van Helen (1974) states that Kepler’s device would produce an inverted image, which would be a major disadvantage to the users in 1600. This is why this telescope was used primarily for the observation of objects on Earth. Moreover, the telescope also served as a measuring tool, allowing scientists to improve the accuracy of their calculations. Hence, one could measure a relatively accurate distance between two bodies, which was unprecedented before this invention (Van Helden 1974). In summary, in the article “The Telescope in the Seventeenth Century,” the author discusses the intricate details of how a telescope was invented and applied and how the different variations of telescopes developed by varied scientists affected the development of astronomy.
The main argument that the author presents in the article in question is the place of the telescope as an important scientific development of the seventeenth century. Van Helen (1974), however, acknowledges the speculative nature of his article, suggesting that some parts of it are based on his assumptions and conclusions and not empirical findings. Over the years, from the time when the first telescope was introduced, there were many improvements and modifications made by different scientists and enthusiasts, such as Gallileo or Descartes. They modified the shape and size of a telescope and its lenses to achieve a better image and view.
Additionally, the author implies that Gallileo, who is generally considered to be the original inventor of the telescope, may not be one as his invention followed the one patented in Italy in 1608. He discloses many other scientists who have worked on the development of a similar device. There were many obstacles to the development of a telescope, as in many cases, there were no theoretical foundations for building the improvements of this device. For instance, the understanding of chromatic aberration was necessary during the 1660s, while a theoretical paper on this subject was published only in 1672 (Van Helden 1974). Hence, in some instances, the scientists required the improvement of the theoretical understanding of optics to build a telescope that would correspond to the requirements.
Overall, this paper is an analysis and summary of Van Helden’s article “The Telescope in the Seventeenth Century,” published in 1974. In this work, the author discusses many details about how the telescope was invented and how it affected the sciences. The enthusiasts working on the development of telescopes were in a continuous search for a way to improve the devices, which pushed theoretical scientists toward the development of theories.
Reference
Van Helden, Albert. 1974. “The Telescope in the Seventeenth Century.” ISIS, 65(1): 38-58.