Telescope

There is some dispute about early telescopes, but they were probably invented in the early 17th century. Galileo built one in 1609 and was the first to point a telescope at the skies. In the beginning they were cumbersome, but soon nautical instrument makers, who were already providing mariners with navigation instruments, began making telescopes—“spyglasses”—for sailors. We do not know the provenance of this instrument, but it is part of the Garland Collection of Scientific Instruments.