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   Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 14:21:56 JST Corey S Powell

   The word "telescope" was coined at the Lincean Academy in Rome on April 14, 1611, at a dinner party honoring Galileo. But Galileo did not name it!

   The telescope was named by Greek poet/priest/mathematician Giovanni Demisiani. He called it "teleskopos"--far-seeing.

   https://www.jstor.org/stable/24009629?seq=4 #science #history #technology

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     Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 14:21:55 JST Corey S Powell

     in reply to

     Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey is generally credited as the inventor of the telescope. (That's his patent application, below.) He had a different name for the device: He called it a "kijker," meaning "looker" in Dutch.

     In a different reality, there is a Hubble Space Kijker.

     https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/lippershey.html

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     Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 14:21:56 JST Corey S Powell

     in reply to

     Some accounts attribute the name "telescope" to Prince Frederico Cesi, head of the Lincean Academy, who hosted the banquet. More likely, he was the one who announced Demisiani's idea to the room.

     (Below is a diagram of the telescope design sent to Cesi in 1609. Why, what else did you think it was.)

     https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/teleskopos-how-the-telescope-got-its-name/ #science #tech #history

     Steve's Place repeated this.