Summary:
- The term "telescope" was coined by the Italian scientist and mathematician Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Galileo built the first telescope in 1608.
- His telescope used two lenses to make distant objects appear both nearer and larger.
- Around 1670, Sir Isaac Newton built a different kind of telescope.
- Newton's telescope used curved mirrors instead of lenses to focus light.
- This type of telescope is called a reflecting telescope, or reflector.
- Radio telescopes collect radio waves.
- These telescopes are even larger telescopes than reflectors.