RE: [asa] History of Science article

He may well have been a genius but just how much did he advance science for
the world? It is a little like trying to give Leonard Digges credit for
inventing the telescope almost 30 years before the Dutch made magnifying
optical devices. But Digges' device never went anywhere and we have, I
think, only a record of it provided by his son. But then the Dutch don't
really deserve the credit as these were apparently better classified as
toys. Hans Lippershey did build and market his improved telescopes, though
he could not secure a patent due to the fact it was not a new idea.
Galileo, of course, exceeded Hans greatly, so some like to claim he is the
inventor.

If he was a genius, then fine. But I would like to know if he contributed
to science and to the scientists who were key players in advancing science
such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, etc. My guess is that religion
likely repressed his work, so we now have another mark against religion in a
generalized (and unfair) sense.

Coope

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Christine Smith
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 8:03 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] History of Science article

Hi all,

Thought you'd find this BBC article of interest--any history-of-science
buffs out there want to comment on this?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7810846.stm

In Christ,
Christine (ASA member)

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Received on Mon Jan 5 17:40:01 2009