Happy 400th Anniversary, Galileo's Telescope!

[doublehelix]

His telescope is 400 years old today:

Just over 400 years ago, Galileo--then chair of mathematics at Italy's University of Padua--got word that Dutch glass makers had invented a device that allowed viewers to see very distant objects as if they were nearby.

The mathematician soon acquired a Dutch instrument, and on August 25, 1609, he presented an improved, more powerful telescope of his own design to the senate of the city-state of Venice.

More.
(be sure to check out the photo gallery.)

 

[MasterComposter]

That was a good article with some interesting links. Thanks for posting it.

 

[crazyeddie]

It's remarkable how even the humblest of instruments were so beautifully decorated, way back then. The form was a important as the function: