Galileo's glassworks : the telescope and the mirror /

For centuries before the invention of the refracting telescope, people imagined telescopic vision, i.e., ways of seeing distant objects more clearly. Reeves (comparative literature, Princeton Univ.) begins with a literature search that details references to legends of mirrors of almost magical powers that allowed the user to see distant points or even to burn ships at sea (e.g., the Pharos of Alexandria). By the mid-13th century, convex lenses were used for reading, and it was recognized that concave metallic mirrors had similar properties. Reeves describes the expectation of competitive (and secretive) scientists throughout Europe that mirrors were a vital part of telescopic devices. She then investigates Galileo's response to hearing of the Dutch invention of the refracting telescope in 1608. The author notes Galileo's allusions to concave mirrors from 1601 to 1607; the delay in the production of his revolutionary telescope until 1609 may be due to his expectation that mirrors were necessary. Once Galileo had a sketch of the Dutch instrument, he had success. This is a scholarly work with a vast cast of characters, 50 pages of notes, and great attention to detail. Valuable for specialists rather than general readers. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty. M.-K. Hemenway University of Texas at Austin

Galileo is mistakenly believed by many to have invented the telescope-a misconception that the scientist did little to correct in his own time. Rather, as Reeves, an associate professor of comp lit at Princeton, reminds readers in reviewing both the myths and facts of telescopy, Galileo perfected a relatively crude Dutch invention that he had gotten wind of. It was his improved version, which he christened a "telescope," that he used to discover the four large moons around Jupiter and the topography of the Earth's moon. However, as Reeves recounts, reports of magical mirrors and lenses dated back to the lighthouse of ancient Alexandria, which according to legend, was topped by an enormous mirror that could spy enemy ships and set them on fire. Stories circulated about other cultures, often Eastern, whose rulers used mirrors to keep a watchful eye on their citizens and spot invaders from afar. The English friar and scientist Francis Bacon intrigued generations with stories of marvelous looking glasses and a mirror that Julius Caesar supposedly used to observe the coast of England from France. In Galileo's time, the author reports, many scientists and amateurs were experimenting with optics and purloining each other's results in a complex game of cross-national thievery. Reeves's study is a skillful interpretative blend of legend, history and science about lenses, mirrors and their conjoining in the telescope. 5 illus. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A survey of Renaissance lore regarding magnifying mirrors and lenses. Reeves (Comparative Literature/Princeton Univ.) is more interested in what Galileo and his contemporaries believed about telescopic vision than in the actual process of discovery that led to his adoption of the telescope for astronomical observations. As the author shows, the idea of telescopic vision can be traced to ancient civilizations. The Pharos lighthouse in Alexandria was said to have a mirror in which the keepers could see the enemies of the city approaching from long distances. The Pharos mirror was also supposedly capable of setting ships ablaze by concentrating the sun's rays. It was variously described as magical and simply physical, and many of its properties, notes Reeves, can be found in descriptions of other semi-mythical mirrors, built by (or for) many powerful historical figures including Julius Caesar, Virgil, Roger Bacon and John Dee. The author quotes a number of Galileo's contemporaries or immediate predecessors who claim they had made--or were working on--mirrors with similar properties, sometimes in combination with lenses. This flood of information--some of it merely mistaken, some outright fraudulent--is largely responsible for Galileo's delay in following up accounts of the real telescope developed by Dutch lensmakers. Reeves also argues that obscure language in several texts led Galileo and his contemporaries to believe that the Dutch telescope used mirrors, not lenses, to achieve its effect. In fact, a confusion of reports, some by Galileo's rivals, has obscured the exact history of Galileo's own adoption of the telescope. A satire by Ben Jonson, for example, improbably portrays the Italian astronomer as an ally of the Jesuits, using his telescope to burn attacking ships. A bit dry, but scattered with intriguing nuggets. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.