Did Galileo Invent the Telescope?

Answer 1

No. This is one of those things that "everyone knows," yet is absolutely incorrect. I'll talk about the reason for this mistake in a moment. First, let's give credit to the person who really invented the telescope. Who invented the telescope?
In 1608, Dutch eyeglass maker, Hans Lippershey offered a new device to the government for military use. This new device made use of two glass lenses in a tube to magnify distant objects. He may not have invented the telescope (in fact, at least two other Dutch opticians were also working on the idea at the time), but Hans Lippershey has been credited with its invention. He, at least, applied for the patent for it first.

Answer 2

The first refracting telescope was invented by Hans Lippershey in 1608. Lippershey (1570?-1619) was a German-born Dutch lens maker who demonstrated the first refracting telescope in 1608, made from two lenses; he applied for a patent for this optical refracting telescope (using 2 lenses) in 1608, intending it for use as a military device.

In 1609, Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to observe the skies (after hearing about Hans Lippershey's newly-invented telescope). Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn (1610), was the first person to see the four major moons of Jupiter (1610), observed the phases of Venus, studied sunspots, and discovered many other important phenomena.

Isaac Newton improved the design of the refracting telescope (using an objective mirror, instead of a lens), now called the Newtonian telescope.

Answer 3

Not really, Hans Lipperhey was considered (but not proven) to be the inventor. . . here's a brief, accurate detail:

Although others have claimed the invention of the telescope and the device was impossible to keep secret, the earliest record of the existence of such a device is a letter of the government of Zeeland to its delegation to the States General of the Netherlands, dated 25 September 1608, which instructs them to be of help to the bearer, "who claims to have a certain device by means of which all things at a very great distance can be seen as if they were nearby, by looking through glasses which he claims to be a new invention."[1] On 2 October the States General discussed Lipperhey's application for a patent on the instrument. Although the patent was eventually denied because it was felt that the device could not be kept a secret, Lipperhey made several binocular telescopes for the States General and was paid handsomely for his services.

Shortly after that, the States General were also petitioned by Jacob Metius of Alkmaar, a city in the north of the Netherlands, who also claimed to be the inventor. The claim of yet a third person, Sacharias Janssen, also a spectacle-maker in Middelburg, emerged several decades later. The surviving records are not sufficient to decide who was the actual (or as it was put in the seventeenth century, the first) inventor of the telescope. All we can say is that Lipperhey's patent application is the earliest record of an actually existing telescope.

Answer 4

The legend actually says that merely hearing of the invention, Galileo reproduced it from a couple of lenses he had on hand.

Answer 5

No. He was just the first to point it up. It was some Dutch guy. Try going to wikipedia, it will tell you. Just type in 'telescope'.