Galileo Moon

Regardless of what the history books say I suspect that no one invented the telescope.  I imagine that due to the efforts of countless people the craft of lens grinding improved to the point where the quality of lens’ was sufficient to construct a working telescope.   Galileo didn’t invent the telescope.  That would’ve been trivial.  What he invented was an entirely new type astronomy and that was momentous.

With our 21st century mindset we assume that the connection between the telescope and astronomy is obvious.  But it was anything but apparent in the 17th century.   Islamic astronomers viewed the telescope as a needless distraction.  They felt that anything so dim, or so small, that you needed a telescope to view it was irrelevant.   Galileo changed that thinking. 

This logo displays an early sketch by Galileo.  Its historical significance is every bit as great as that of the Mona Lisa.  It represents the birth of the new astronomy.  But the logo contains a wicked irony.  The drawing was originally published in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems a book previously banned by the church.  To put it simply, this logo contains an image that was once banned.