A telescope from the first half of the seventeenth century – A scientific instrument made of ivory
1725
From the beginning of the sixteenth century people were able to use a telescope to look into outer space. Being able to do so also changed the view they had of the Earth, encouraging those who were supporters of a heliocentric universe, that is to say those who did not agree with the notion of the universe with the Earth at its centre but who held that the planets moved around the Sun. People used the telescope not only for scientific work but also for military and ‘personal’ purposes, for example when hunting or in the theatre.
