Reading Connections #1: Telescope hits 400

When asked what the most important invention in the scientific revolution was in history, I usually wouldn't think of the telescope first. The printing press, the automobile, or Einstein's inventions comes to mind. The article titled, "The Telescope: 400 Years and Counting", recaptures the path of the telescopes creation and its use in history, as well as its possible future. The telescope is referred as one of the most single important instruments that was invented in our time, shaking the very grounds of religious society in the 16th and 17th centuries. The article from wired.com says that the telescope is 400 years old now, even though there's no specific birth date mentioned for the invention. Relating to our class concepts, the article refers that the telescope has such tremendous power as a creation because for most of history people held a Neolithic, geocentric view that the Earth is the center of the universe, and everything revolves around it. People maintained the 'comforting' view that the Earth was the very center of god's creation. This lasted for a while, as it was held by powerful religious interests, but the telescope's view allowed light to debunk the Earth-centric cosmology. 

The article affirms that most reliable accounts put the invention of the telescope by Hans Lippershey of the Netherlands in 1608. It was the fine tuning of the telescope the following year by Galileo that triggered this great invention. Before this, understanding of the universe was not made by telescopic observations into the sky, but by Biblical texts and powerful religious figures thinking other wise. They specifically thought the celestial bodies above were perfect and divine stemming from christian belief. The article continues how Galileo brought the telescopes observations to the public be gaining notoriety from rich and powerful Italian families, showing them the telescopes star-gazing capabilities. People actually saw, and they believed; for the first time people were witnessing the true universe as never before with their own two eyes. This is where the scientific revolution happens, Galileo changed the world forever with the spread of his invention. Instead of perfect celestial spheres, the public saw the moon with horrible craters, Saturn and Jupiter had orbiting moons, and even the 'central' sun had ugly spots. This connects to our texts as Steven Shapin on page 25-26 writes from 'The Scientific Revolution', 

"When Galileo turned his telescope to the stars he saw vastly larger numbers than were observable with the naked eye. To the three previously known stars in Orion's belt Galileo now added about eighty more. Some nebulous stars now were resolved into little Milky Ways. Galileo also noticed that, compared with the moon and the planets, stars did not appear to be much enlarged by the telescope. It was thus possible...that the stars might be immensely far away...Galileo's dramatic discovery of moons around Jupiter was used to give further credibility to the Copernican system, since the earth-moon relationship was no longer unique."

This excerpt from Shapin shows the importance of Galileo's impact on the understanding of the universe, which the article was communicating as well, connecting to our concepts in class. The article then extends concepts by going on to say that the same year Galileo died, by coincidence Isaac Newton was born to complete the Galilean scientific revolution. Newton gave the world a new picture of our universe and the telescope which lasted for 250 years until Einstien. But anyways, Newton invented a new type of telescope, the reflecting telescope which supplies the basis for advanced modern telescopic technology. The article continues to extend concepts from class as it suggests a new field for telescopes. A new generation of very large monster telescopes, with colossal adjustable mirrors that compensate for the Earth's atmospheric disturbance. Also, new developments are emerging of space telescopes that will reveal the true tranquility of the universe not just in optical frequencies but with gravitational waves. This extends the 'view' of the telescope, as we could truly extend our understanding of the universe as we can potentially have pictures of an 'new' universe as it emerges from the Big Bang. The telescope may answer the deepest darkest questions for humans of how the universe came to be, and if Genesis really happened.

Works Cited/Consulted:

Kaku, Michio. "The Telescope: 400 Years and Counting" Wired. 01 Oct. 2008. 02 Oct. 2008.

http://www.wired.com/science/space/news/2008/10/telescope_kaku_essay_mainbar 

Shapin, Steven. The Scientific Revolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago press, 1996.