The refracting telescope was first patented by the spectacle-maker Hans Lipperhey in the Dutch Republic in 1608, and Galileo Galilei in Italy turned an improved version skyward from 1609. His observations revealed mountains and craters on the Moon, four moons orbiting Jupiter, the phases of Venus and countless faint stars. These sights showed celestial bodies to be physical worlds and contradicted the Earth-centred cosmos.
It supplied crucial observational evidence for the Sun-centred model of Copernicus, helping to establish the empirical, instrument-based method at the heart of the Scientific Revolution.
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