Claims of prior invention History of the telescope

reproduction of 1 of 4 optical devices zacharias snijder in 1841 claimed telescopes built zacharias janssen. actual function , creator has been disputed on years.

in 1655 dutch diplomat william de boreel tried solve mystery of invented telescope. had local magistrate in middelburg follow on boreel s childhood , adult recollections of spectacle maker named hans remembered inventor of telescope. magistrate contacted unknown claimant, middelburg spectacle maker johannes zachariassen, testified father, zacharias janssen invented telescope , microscope 1590. testimony seemed convincing boreel, recollected zacharias , father, hans martens, must have been remembered. boreel s conclusion zacharias janssen invented telescope little ahead of spectacle maker, hans lippershey, adopted pierre borel in 1656 book de vero telescopii inventore. discrepancies in boreel s investigation , zachariassen s testimony (including zachariassen misrepresenting date of birth , role in invention) has led historians consider claim dubious. janssen claim continue on years , added on zacharias snijder in 1841 presenting 4 iron tubes lenses in them claimed 1590 examples of janssen s telescope , historian cornelius de waard s 1906 claim man tried sell broken telescope astronomer simon marius @ 1608 frankfurt book fair must have been janssen.

in 1682, minutes of royal society in london robert hooke noted thomas digges 1571 pantometria, (a book on measurement, partially based on father leonard digges notes , observations) seemed support english claim invention of telescope, describing leonard having fare seeing glass in mid 1500s based on idea roger bacon. thomas described proportional glasses duly situate in convenient angles, not discovered things far off, read letters, numbered pieces of money coin , superscription thereof, cast of friends of purpose upon downs in open fields, 7 miles off declared hath been done @ instant in private places. comments on use of proportional or perspective glass made in writings of john dee (1575) , william bourne (1585). bourne asked in 1580 investigate diggs device queen elizabeth s chief advisor lord burghley. bourne s best description of it, , writing seemed consist of peering large curved mirror reflected image produced large lens. idea of elizabethan telescope has been expanded on years, including astronomer , historian colin ronan 1990s explorations concluding reflecting/refracting telescope built leonard digges between 1540 , 1559. backwards reflecting telescope have been unwieldy, needed large mirrors , lens work, observer had stand backwards @ upside down view, , bourne noted had narrow field of view making unsuitable military purposes. optical performance required see details of coins lying in fields, or private activities 7 miles away, seems far beyond technology of time , perspective glass being described far simpler idea, originating bacon, of using single lens held in front of eye magnify distant view.

a 1959 research paper simon de guilleuma claimed evidence had uncovered pointed french born spectacle maker juan roget (died before 1624) possible builder of telescope predated hans lipperhey s patent application. inventing telescope-like devices.