The long forgotten relation between an English binocular and a Dutch philosopher:Frans Hemsterhuis (1721–1790) as Herschel’s precursor and designer of Dollond’s achromatic binocular telescope

In the history of the telescope, almost no attention has been given to the development of the achromatic binocular telescope: a scientific instrument that emerged in 1770. New archival evidence suggests that this instrument owes much to the efforts of the Dutch scholar and philosopher Frans Hemsterhuis (1721–1790). In the present literature Hemsterhuis is best known as the most important Dutch philosopher of the eighteenth century, well known for his theories on aesthetics. But he had also a profound interest in optics. According to Hemsterhuis’s correspondence it was his aim to improve the re... Mehr ...