Hans Lipperhey (circa 1570 – buried 29 September 1619), also known as Johann Lippershey or Lippershey, was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-
Dutch spectacle-maker. He is commonly associated with the invention of the
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to obse ...
, because he was the first one who tried to obtain a patent for it. It is, however, unclear if he was the first one to build a telescope.
Biography
Lipperhey was born in
Wesel
Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.
Geography
Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine.
Division of the city
Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrigho ...
, now in western
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, around 1570. He settled in
Middelburg, the capital of the province of
Zeeland, now in the
Netherlands
)
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, in 1594, married the same year and became a citizen of Zeeland in 1602. During that time he became a master lens grinder and
spectacle
In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French ''spectacle'', itself a reflection of t ...
maker and established a shop. He remained in Middelburg until his death, in September 1619.
Invention of the telescope
Hans Lipperhey is known for the earliest written record of a
refracting telescope
A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses an ...
, a patent he filed in 1608. His work with optical devices grew out of his work as a spectacle maker, an industry that had started in Venice and Florence in the thirteenth century, and later expanded to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and Germany.
Lipperhey applied to the
States General of the Netherlands
The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague.
The State ...
on 2 October 1608 for a patent for his instrument "''for seeing things far away as if they were nearby''", a few weeks before another Dutch instrument-maker's patent, that of
Jacob Metius Jacob (Jacobus; sometimes James) Metius (after 1571–1628) was a Dutch instrument-maker and a specialist in grinding lenses. He is primarily known for the patent application he made for an optical telescope in October 1608, a few weeks after ...
. Lipperhey failed to receive a patent since the same claim for invention had also been made by other spectacle-makers but he was handsomely rewarded by the Dutch
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
for copies of his
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
.
Lipperhey's application for a patent was mentioned at the end of a diplomatic report on an embassy to Holland from the
Kingdom of Siam sent by the Siamese king
Ekathotsarot: ''Ambassades du Roy de Siam envoyé à l'Excellence du Prince Maurice, arrivé à La Haye le 10 Septemb. 1608'' (''Embassy of the King of Siam sent to his Excellency Prince Maurice, arrived at The Hague on 10 September 1608''). This report was issued in October 1608 and distributed across Europe, leading to experiments by other scientists, such as the Italian
Paolo Sarpi
Paolo Sarpi (14 August 1552 – 15 January 1623) was a Venetian historian, prelate, scientist, canon lawyer, and statesman active on behalf of the Venetian Republic during the period of its successful defiance of the papal interdict (1605–160 ...
, who received the report in November, the Englishman
Thomas Harriot, who was using a six-powered telescope by the summer of 1609, and
Galileo Galilei
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He ...
, who improved the device.
There are many stories as to how Lipperhey came by his invention. One version has Lipperhey observing two children playing with
lenses in his shop and commenting how they could make a far away
weather-vane seem closer when looking at it through two lenses. Other stories have Lipperhey's apprentice coming up with the idea or have Lipperhey copying someone else's discovery. Lipperhey's original instrument consisted of either two
convex
Convex or convexity may refer to:
Science and technology
* Convex lens, in optics
Mathematics
* Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points
** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points
** Convex polytop ...
lenses with an inverted image or a convex
objective and a
concave
Concave or concavity may refer to:
Science and technology
* Concave lens
* Concave mirror
Mathematics
* Concave function, the negative of a convex function
* Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex
* Concave set
In geometry, a subset o ...
eyepiece
An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks through the device. The ...
lens so it would have an upright image.
A people's history of science: miners, midwives, and "low mechanicks" By Clifford D. Conner
/ref> This "Dutch perspective glass" (the name "''telescope''" would not be coined until three years later by Giovanni Demisiani) had a three-times (or 3X) magnification
Magnification is the process of enlarging the apparent size, not physical size, of something. This enlargement is quantified by a calculated number also called "magnification". When this number is less than one, it refers to a reduction in si ...
.
The lunar crater Lippershey, the minor planet 31338 Lipperhey, and the exoplanet Lipperhey (55 Cancri d) are named after him.
Pronunciation
In the anglicized pronunciation, the letters 'sh' are read as a single phoneme, the sibilant , resulting in . In an English translation from 1831 mistakenly the spelling 'Lippershey', with an 's' is used. The German pronunciation is , whereas the Dutch pronunciation is closer to .
Notes
References
*
*
*
*G. Moll, "On the first Invention of Telescopes," in "Journal of the Royal Institution" 1 (1831), 319–332; 483–496. This is a shortened English version of Moll's article "Historical research into the first inventors of the binoculars, compiled from the notes of the late professor J.H. van Swinden "," New dissertations of the Royal Dutch Institute "3 (1831), 103–209. In the English version, Moll mistakenly uses the spelling 'Lippershey', with an 's'. Through this English article this spelling has unfortunately become common in English literature.
External links
Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You - Timeline - Hans Lippershey
400th Anniversary of the Invention of the Telescope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippershey, Hans
16th-century births
1619 deaths
17th-century Dutch inventors
Dutch opticians
Dutch scientific instrument makers
People from Wesel
People from Middelburg, Zeeland
Copernican Revolution
17th-century Dutch scientists
German emigrants to the Dutch Republic