Great Astronomers and Their Contributions & Telescopes

The Telescope has a four hundred year history and in this time there have been a lot of astronomers and telescope makers who have built telescopes, made discoveries and advanced astronomy in remarkable ways. These links are to articles written on this website about many of these famous people. This is a list that is…

William Herschel and His Discovery and Contribution To Telescopes

William Herschel was a British astronomer, telescope maker, and musician known for discovering the planet Uranus in 1781. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and telescope technology as an observational astronomer, telescope maker, and scientist. Herschel discovered Uranus through a combination of luck, persistence, and dedication to astronomy. He happened to be…

Edwin Hubble and The Big Bang Theory

Edwin Hubble was an American astronomer known for his significant contributions to the field of observational astronomy and his role in establishing the field of extragalactic astronomy. Hubble’s work revolutionized our understanding of the universe and its origins, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential astronomers of the 20th century.Hubble’s career…

William Parsons and His Discoveries and Contribution To Telescopes

William Parsons, also known as the 3rd Earl of Rosse, was an English astronomer, naturalist, and engineer who made significant contributions to the field of astronomy through his telescope discoveries. Parsons built his own telescope, the “Leviathan of Parsonstown,” which was the largest known telescope of its time with an aperture of 1.8m. Using this…

James Gregory and His Contributions To Telescopes

James Gregory was a Scottish mathematician and astronomer, born in November 1638 in Drumoak, near Aberdeen, Scotland. He is best known for his description of the first practical reflecting telescope, now known as the Gregorian telescope. James Gregory made important mathematical discoveries, including infinite series representations for various trigonometric functions. Despite his significant contributions to…

Christiaan Huygens and His Contributions To Telescope Improvement

Christiaan Huygens was a Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of telescope design. He invented the Huygenian eyepiece, a type of compound eyepiece that reduced image distortion, and built refracting telescopes with improved optics and a focal length of 67 meters. Huygens’ telescope designs and innovations allowed for better…

Sir Isaac Newton and Newton’s Reflecting Telescope

Sir Isaac Newton invented the reflecting telescope in 1668, a significant contribution to the field of optics that impacted the development of telescopes during the scientific revolution. His main innovation was the use of a concave mirror to gather light, which helped combat chromatic aberration and revolutionized telescope technology. Newton’s reflecting telescope design, known as…

Johannes Kepler and Keplerian Telescope

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and natural philosopher known for his work in astronomy, optics, and the invention of the Keplerian telescope. Kepler’s telescope design, known as the Keplerian telescope, used a convex lens for the eyepiece and a concave lens for the objective, providing higher magnification and a wider field of view…