https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/files/original/e1357fdc92d8ae9e7db027e5f9737434.jpg 763bf3a55fd5c914b10ce2f76ec5b555 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Engraving Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Early depiction of a ‘dutch telescope’ Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Adriaen van de Venne Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Adam Smart Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1624 Description An account of the resource The development of the earliest telescopes is the source of some debate among historians, as numerous individuals claimed to be the inventors of the telescope. The Low Countries and Italy both emerge as potential locations for its invention, and numerous individuals claimed to have conceived of the invention or pursued patents. Hans Lippershey first applied for a patent for the telescope in the Netherlands in 1608, but the patent was denied as the patent office had identified others capable of making similar devices (van Helden 20-21). Conceptually, the telescope appeared it Italy in the writings of Giovanni Battista della Porta, who claimed to have invented the device first after hearing of Galileo’s successes with his telescope (Freedberg 101). Galileo acknowledged the primacy of an unnamed Dutch inventor in developing a telescope, but also declared he had invented the telescope, contrasting his invention as an enlightened development against a Dutch accident while making glasses (Rosen 305-306). Historian Albert van Helden approaches the declaration of a sole inventor cautiously, declaring that “the telescope was not invented, so to speak, ex nihilo” (van Helden 24). In other words, the telescope did not suddenly appear as a new invention, but instead emerged from a much larger history of lens-making and optics. Van Helden restates the question of “Who invented the telescope?” as “who first realized that such a device could be used for another purpose and set about adapting and improving it in order to obtain the greatest magnification possible?” (van Helden 24-25). This approach to analyzing the development of the telescope acknowledges the process as ingrained in the wider context of optical developments. Historian Engel Sluiter, alternatively, approaches the invention of the telescope as a development that began with Lippershey’s invention and attributed the source to the Low Countries alone, stating “its dispersion was entirely from the Low Countries outward” (Sluiter 228). Sluiter divides the development of the telescope into “phases,” where the first phase spans its “invention to dispersion over Europe,” and ends with Galileo’s use of the telescope (Sluiter 223). This interpretation characterizes the development of the telescope as a more revolutionary event that initiated a phase of rapid dispersion and innovation. While Sluiter’s interpretation aligns more neatly with the perceived speed at which the telescope was spread across Europe (which Sluiter himself tracks in detail), van Helden’s wider look at the intellectual and practical roots of the development of the telescope supports and acknowledges the complexity in even identifying a singular inventor of the device. Works Cited Freedberg, David. “The Telescope: Imperfection in the Heavens.” The Eye of the Lynx.101-117. University of Chicago Press, 2002. Rosen, Edward. "Did Galileo Claim He Invented the Telescope?" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 98, no. 5 (1954): 304-12. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3143908">http://www.jstor.org/stable/3143908</a>. Sluiter, Engel. “The Telescope Before Galileo.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 28, no. 3 (1997): 223-234. doi:10.1177/002182869702800302. Van Helden, Albert. "The Invention of the Telescope." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 67, no. 4 (1977): 1-67. doi:10.2307/1006276. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emblemata_1624.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emblemata_1624.jpg</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This item is in the public domain.