Hans Lippershey

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Hans Lippershey (Wesel 1570– Middelburg 1619) was a Dutch lensmaker, born in Wesel, in western Germany. He settled in Middelburg in the Netherlands, was married in 1594, and become a citizen in 1602.

He was credited with creating and disseminating designs for the first practical telescope. Crude telescopes and spyglasses may have been created much earlier, but Lippershey is believed to be the first to apply for a patent for his design (beating out Jacob Metius by a few weeks) and make it available for general use in 1608. He failed to receive a patent but was handsomely rewarded by the Dutch government for copies of his design. A description of Lippershey's instrument quickly reached Galileo Galilei, who created a working design in 1609, with which he made the observations found in his Sidereus Nuncius of 1610. Galileo's telescope could see 30-times farther than the naked eye, while the "Dutch perspective glass" that Lippershey invented could only see 3-times farther than the naked eye. But Hans made a huge contribution to science by inspiring others like Galileo.