Newton’s Telescope in - Specialized Research AI at MIT

Newton’s Telescope in
Print: The Role of
Images in the Reception
of Newton’s Instrument

Sven Dupré
Ghent University

While Newton tried to make his telescope into a proof of the supremacy of his
theory of colours over older theories, his instrument was welcomed as a way to
shorten telescopes, not as a way to solve the problem of chromatic aberration.
This paper argues that the image published together with the report on New-
ton’s telescope in Philosophical Transactions (1672) encouraged this recep-
tion. The differences between this visualization and other images of Newton’s
telescope, especially that published in Opticks (1704), are discussed. This
paper shows that the image in Opticks adopted characteristics of a Carte-
sian program of visualization of machines and instruments which comple-
mented a rhetoric which attributed primacy to theory over practice. The dif-
ferences between the images in Philosophical Transactions and Opticks
are also considered within the broader institutional context of Newton’s atti-
tude towards the Royal Society.

Introduction
In a seminal article on the telescope in the seventeenth century Albert Van
Helden complained that “the traditional treatment of the telescope is re-
plete with optical diagrams . . . with the result that one is left with the
impression that the telescope was an instrument which, if not invented
through science, was at any rate turned into the sophisticated instrument
it became by science—the science of optics” (Van Helden 1974, p. 38).
Van Helden convincingly argued for the important contribution of craft
skills—which could not be represented in optical diagrams—to the devel-
opment of the telescope in the seventeenth century. Moreover, as I will ar-
gue here, the modernized optical diagrams also hardly do justice to the vi-

The author is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation—Flanders. This work has
been supported by the award of a Research Grant of the Research Foundation—Flanders.

Perspectives on Science 2008, vol. 16, no. 4
©2008 by The Massachusetts Institute of Technology

328

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sualizations which historical actors used to communicate on the telescope
with patrons, mathematicians, and craftsmen. A lack of attention to the
historical and visual particulars of the communication on this instrument
deprives us of information on the conceptualization and reception of the
telescope in the seventeenth century.

In this paper I will focus on Newton’s telescope. I will consider three
different drawings of Newton’s telescope: (1) the drawing based on the
formal description by Henry Oldenburg, which was checked by Newton
and published in a modiªed version in the Philosophical Transactions of 25
March 1672 (Newton 1672)1; (2) an unªnished draft of a description of
the telescope in Newton’s papers at the Cambridge University Library;
and (3) the drawing of Newton’s telescope published in the Opticks
(1704).2 Earlier comments on these drawings explained the differences be-
tween these drawings in terms of assumed inaccuracies in the engravings or
in terms of differences in the instruments themselves (Mills and Turvey
1979, p. 136; Hall 1995, p. 76).

Such comments are based on analyses of the drawings which—implic-
itly or explicitly—aimed at a reconstruction of the state of the technology.
Unlike such analyses my approach will try to understand the function of
the visualizations of Newton’s telescope for the historical actors them-
selves.3 I will ask questions about how the maker of the drawing, the mes-
sage, and the audience of the drawing interacted in the communication of
the drawing. It is my aim to understand the differences between the visu-
alizations of Newton’s telescope in terms of the different functions of the
drawings. What did the maker of the drawing try to communicate? How
did the audience understand the message communicated by the drawing?
My analysis will stress the role of images of Newton’s telescope in the re-
ception of the instrument.

In following this approach I am not looking for the development of
some presumed ‘correct’ representation of the telescope. The way of rep-
resenting a telescope was a problem whose solutions depended on the
function of the representation. In the seventeenth century the telescope

1. Oldenburg sent a verbal description and a picture of Newton’s telescope—based on
the telescope which Newton had presented to the Royal Society—to Newton for correc-
tions on 2 January 1671/2. Newton replied with corrections, which Oldenburg included in
the formal description published in Philosophical Transactions, on 6 January 1671/2.
Oldenburg sent the description and picture to Huygens on 15 January 1671/2 (Turnbull
1959, pp. 72–76, pp. 79–82).

2. A fourth drawing of Newton’s telescope (by Newton) is now in the Bernouilli papers
in Basel, but in the 18th century it was in the possession of Johann Jacob Huber who
worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (Cohen 1993). As the original function of
this drawing is unclear, I will leave it out of the discussion here.

3. This approach is indebted to Popplow 2004.

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presented problems of representation which were speciªc to this optical in-
strument. The problems were different from those involved in depicting
mathematical instruments, which had received attention in the sixteenth
century. With mathematical instruments the boundary between the ‘illus-
tration’ of the instrument in the book and the actual instrument was often
blurry. The boundary case was, of course, paper instruments (Bennett 2003).4
However, with the telescope the visual description of the construction and
manipulation of the instrument did not coincide with a description of the
mathematical or optical knowledge embodied in the instrument. In brief,
there were no such things as paper telescopes.

This is not to say that the solutions given to the problems of represent-
ing telescopes in the seventeenth century did not show any continuity
with those already found in representing mathematical instruments in the
sixteenth century. In Selenographia (1647) and—even more obviously—in
Machina coelestis (1673) Johannes Hevelius presented pictures of the tele-
scopes, shown in the context of his observatory Stellaeborg in Danzig,
which were modelled on Tycho Brahe’s (Figure 1). Such pictures were sup-
posed to vouch for the quality of the instruments (Winkler and Van
Helden 1993; Van Helden 1994). This type of visualization—which, ac-
cording to Martin Kemp (1996), allows mathematics to partake in the
rhetoric of the real—had become the most authoritative one in a process that
extended over the past two centuries. In Dupré 2006 I have argued that
there were more options available in the representation of optical instru-
ments in the ªfteenth and sixteenth century than this one.

There were also more possibilities in the representation of telescopes
than the one aimed at virtual witnessing chosen by Hevelius.5 First, I will
discuss the visualization of lens-grinding machines in the seventeenth-
century. The depiction of machines is hardly new to the seventeenth cen-
tury, but the legacy of Descartes’ program for the mechanisation of lens-
grinding had speciªc visual characteristics which complemented a rheto-
ric which attributed primacy to theory over practice.6 I will show that this
type of visualization and rhetoric was adopted by Newton in the represen-
tation of his telescope in Opticks. In the second part of my paper I will look
at the differences with the representation in Philosophical Transactions.

4. On paper instruments, see Gingerich 1993.
5. The term virtual witnessing is used in this context in Winkler and Van Helden 1993,

pp. 99, 111.

6. The scholarship on early modern machine drawings is extensive. A good, recent
starting point is the various contributions to Lefèvre 2004. Leonardo’s drawings of ma-
chines for making mirrors from the late ªfteenth and early sixteenth centuries are the ex-
ception to the general observation that no drawings of mirror or lens-grinding machines
pre-dating the invention of the telescope are preserved (Dupré 2005).

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1. A Cartesian Program of Visualization and Newton’s Telescope in
‘Opticks’
Recently, Graham Burnett (2005) has discussed Descartes’ program of the
mechanisation of lens-grinding and its legacy in the seventeenth century
in detail. I will rely here on Burnett’s account, but I will focus, in particu-
lar, on the issues of visualization which were involved in the communica-
tion of the machines devised to grind (hyperbolic) lenses. Burnett has
convincingly shown that Descartes’ program relied on a distrust of the
lens-grinding skills of artisans.7 I will show that this rhetoric and style of
visualization return in Newton’s Opticks.

In the 1620s Descartes found a solution to the problem of the anaclastic
(Shea 1991, pp. 149–163). He showed that the shape of the curved surface
necessary to refract a set of parallel rays to a single point was hyperbolic.
With this solution to the problem of the anaclastic Descartes stood at the
beginning of a tradition which considered the grinding of hyperbolic
lenses the main route to the perfection of the telescope until Newton’s dis-
covery of the compound nature of light. The grinding of hyperbolic lenses
was difªcult and Descartes’ mathematics did not play any role in the im-
provement of the telescope in the seventeenth-century. In fact, the best
telescopes of the seventeenth century—those of Campani—had spherical
lenses (Righini Bonelli and Van Helden 1981). Nevertheless, Descartes’
program of mechanisation of lens-making was very inºuential in the sev-
enteenth century.

Descartes discussed his machine to grind hyperbolic lenses in La Diop-
trique (1637), where it was presented as a proposal to the community of ar-
tisans (AT 1897, 6: 211–228) (Figure 2). The project was a failure—a fail-
ure for which Descartes blamed ‘his’ artisans. The failure is most clearly
shown in Descartes’ correspondence with the Parisian craftsman Jean Fer-
rier. Burnett has discussed the Descartes-Ferrier correspondence more ex-
tensively, but I will focus here on three letters of 1629 which are particu-
larly revealing of the role of visualisation in the communication (and the
lack of understanding) between Descartes (in Holland) and Ferrier (in
Paris) (Burnett 2005, pp. 41–59).

While Descartes printed a perspectival image of the lens-grinding ma-
chine in La Dioptrique, his ªrst letter to Ferrier showed a diagram (Figure
3) on the basis of which Descartes explained to Ferrier the basic mathe-
matical principle behind the machine to trace the hyperbola.8 Descartes

7. For Descartes’ changing image of the artisan, see also Gauvin 2006. I would like to

thank the author for allowing me to see his work before publication.

8. Descartes to Ferrier, 8 October 1629 (AT 1897, 1: 34). There is no autograph or
manuscript copy of the Descartes-Ferrier correspondence preserved. Therefore, we cannot

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Newton’s Telescope in Print

also provided Ferrier with an image of the grinding wheel being cut by
the hyperbolic plate (Figure 4), shown face on and edge on, “so that you
will understand it better” (AT 1897, 1: 35). Ferrier’s response not only re-
vealed a lack of understanding of the mathematical principles, but it
showed, above all, that Descartes’ machine would not stand the test of
practice. Ferrier pointed out, for example, that the glass blank would be
harder than the grinding wheel and the hyperbolic plate, and they would
thus be deformed by the spinning glass blank.9 Grinding down a glass
blank was only possible if abrasive between the glass blank and the grind-
ing wheel was applied, Ferrier instructed Descartes. This was the kind
of practical knowledge that an artisan with even a minimum of lens-
grinding experience had. Descartes sorely lacked it. Moreover, Ferrier cor-
rected the drawing of the grinding wheel, which Descartes had drawn pre-
cisely to help his craftsman in understanding the machine, by pointing
out that “you drew the wheel in this ªrst illustration seen face on, and not
the edge, and that is why you should only show the plate LM seen from
the side and not lying ºat” (AT 1897, 1: 42). In response to another prac-
tical criticism of Ferrier Descartes felt obliged to defend his choice of visu-
alization in his second letter to Ferrier.

I had traced for you the lines AB and CD fully naked as mathemat-
ical lines so that you would better understand the principles of the
machine . . . Although I am a very bad painter, you might under-
stand my pictures [ªgures] better.10

Descartes’ second letter was illustrated with a perspectival image of the
machine instead of a mathematical diagram (Figure 5). Thus, under the
pressure of communication with his craftsman, Descartes made a choice
for a perspectival representation or a picture of the complete machine.
When Descartes realized that such a representation might not be suf-
ªciently informative on how the different parts of the machine ªtted to-
gether, he made the effort to provide Ferrier with a partial view (more of
the plan type), but the artisan was quick to point out—openly correcting
Descartes’ visualization—that this was done rather clumsily.11 Moreover,
it is obvious that Descartes’ pictures do not contain any more of the craft

but rely on the images redrawn in the edition of Adam and Tannery on the basis of Claude
Clerselier’s edition of Descartes’ correspondence (Paris, 1667), and assume that these draw-
ings are faithful to the original. I would like to thank professor Theo Verbeek and Erik-Jan
Bos for the conªrmation that no originals of the Descartes-Ferrier correspondence are
known to be preserved.

9. Ferrier to Descartes, 26 October 1629 (AT 1897, 1: 46).
10. Descartes to Ferrier, 13 November 1629 (AT 1897, 3: 55).
11. For the distinction between a picture and a plan, see Lefèvre 2003.

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knowledge, which Ferrier could bring to the project, than the diagrams
with which Descartes began the exchange.

The legacy of Descartes’ program of the mechanisation of lens-grinding
and its style of visualisation is evident throughout the seventeenth cen-
tury. One place where the program and the visualisation style surfaced was
the early Royal Society of the 1660s. Under the presidency of Sir Robert
Moray, in 1661 the Royal Society set up a committee, which included—
among others—Sir Paul Neile, Jonathan Goddard and Christopher Wren,
to evaluate tools and instruments to make telescope lenses (Hunter 1989,
pp. 80–82; Bryden and Simms 1993; Copeman 1960; Ronan and Hartley
1960). Also, the early issues of Philosophical Transactions showed consider-
able interest in the making of telescope lenses. In the pages of Philosophical
Transactions projects were mentioned, such as the one of the inventor Mon-
sieur de Son to grind non-spherical lenses (Anonymous 1665/6b) and sim-
ilar work for Francis Smethwick (Anonymous 1668a).12 The journal also
published a book review of Carlo Antonio Manzini’s L’ occhio all’ occhiale,
an Italian manual on telescope lens-making based foremost on the practice
of Eustachio Divini (Anonymous 1668b).

One of the rumours that made it to the pages of Philosophical Transac-
tions was that the lenses of the best telescopes of the moment—those of
Campani—were made with a kind of mechanical system for shaping
lenses directly on the lathe without the use of a forming pan (Anonymous
1665/6a). The rumour was not based on facts—there is no evidence that
Campani used a machine—but the published rumour gave rise to the de-
velopment of a machine to grind spherical lenses (Figure 6), which was
published in the preface of the Micrographia (1665) of Robert Hooke
(Bonelli and Van Helden 1981, p. 27).13 Immediately, Adrien Auzout crit-
icized Hooke’s device as being mere theory and Hooke for publishing a
machine design that had never been tested. Auzout was convinced that,
although the principles upon which the machine was based were sound,
practice would be different:

Though it be true in the Theory, that a Circle whose Plain is in-
clined to the Axis of the Sphere by an Angle, whereof half the Di-
ameter is the Sine, and which touches the Sphere in its Pole, will
touch in all its parts a Spherical Surface, that shall turn upon that
Axe. But it is true also that that must be but a Mathematical Cir-
cle, and without Breadth, and which precisely touches the body in

12. On De Son, see Keblusek 2005.
13. For the role of pictures in Hooke’s Micrographia, see Dennis 1989. For a discussion

of Hooke’s lens-grinding machine, see also Riekher 1990, p. 69.

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Newton’s Telescope in Print

the middle: Whereas in the practice a Circle capable to keep Sand
and Putty, must be of some breadth (Auzout 1665/6, p. 58).14

That such visualizations of machines did not contain any craft knowl-
edge became very clear when Christopher Wren published his design for a
machine for grinding hyperbolic lenses in the Philosophical Transactions of
1669.15 In June of this year Wren showed that a section through the axis
of a cylinder was a hyperbolic surface. Wren only hinted at the practical
application of this principle, but he added that he hoped to soon publish a
description of his machine to grind hyperbolic lenses “cum Icone” (Wren
1669a, p. 962). Wren showed only a mathematical diagram (Figure 7).
The reader of Philosophical Transactions had to wait for the November issue,
in which Wren (1669b) revealed his machine proposal, illustrated “cum
Icone” as promised (Figure 8).

It is evident that the “icon” of Wren’s engine did not visualize a ma-
chine, but only its mathematical principle. The image—in fact, little
more than a shaded diagram—omitted “wheels, cogs, straps,” that is, ev-
erything that makes a machine a machine (Wren 1669b). For Wren the
addition of shading, suggestive of a resemblance with a possible machine,
was sufªcient to speak of an icon instead of a diagram. He also contrasted
this type of visualization with a picture (or perspectival representation,
such as that found together with his diagram on the same page in Figure
7). About the function and usefulness of a picture Wren wrote that “to de-
scribe this thing by an elaborate picture and a prolix explanation would
be more troublesome to myself and my craftsman than for some clever
Daedalus to invent the same thing” (Wren 1669b, p. 1060). In fact,
Wren’s visualization of his ‘machine’ suggested to the readers of Philosophi-
cal Transactions that the “icon” could easily—and without additional craft
knowledge—be translated in an operating machine. When this transla-
tion would fail, it would be the craftsman who was to be blamed. While
drawings and models were used in the communication with craftsmen,16
and Descartes tried to communicate his design by providing Ferrier with
pictures—albeit without success—Wren did not attempt to make a picture
or perspectival representation of his machine.

Newton’s earliest work in optics was triggered by his reading of Des-
cartes’ La dioptrique. It then comes as no surprise that Newton designed
machines to grind hyperbolic lenses in unpublished notes Of Refractions

14. For Auzout’s involvement with the making of telescopes, see McKeon 1965,

pp. 99–136. I would like to thank Albert Van Helden for allowing me to see his copy.

15. On the background, see Bennett 1975, pp. 148–184.
16. For the important role of models and drawings in Hooke’s communication with

craftsmen, see Iliffe 1995, pp. 293–298.

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(1665/6).17 Although Newton appears to have purchased a lathe and lens-
grinding equipment during this period—and thus might have been in-
volved in actual lens-grinding—there is no evidence that he built ma-
chines to his paper designs (Shapiro 1984, pp. 10–11). Not only was the
mathematical principle of Newton’s machine similar (and prior) to Wren’s
design published in Philosophical Transactions of 1669, Newton also bor-
rowed the style of visualisation which was characteristic of the Cartesian
lens-grinding program. Newton’s machine on fol. 26v (Figure 9)18 was not
a diagram strictly speaking (like the one below the image of the machine
on the same folio), but—like Descartes’ and Wren’s—Newton’s represen-
tation does little more than show the mathematical principle—the gener-
ation of the hyperboloid by means of a straight edge inclined to the axis of
the cylinder—on which the machine was based. There is little in the im-
age to remind us that this device had an ambition to be a real machine.

With Newton’s discovery of the compound nature of light, published
in Philosophical Transactions of 1671/2, prior to the appearance of Newton’s
telescope in the same pages, projects—including Newton’s—to grind hy-
perbolic lenses lost their appeal (Newton 1671/2). Newton’s early work on
machines to grind hyperbolic lenses in the Cartesian tradition had, how-
ever, familiarized him with the style of visualization typical for this tradi-
tion. I will show that Newton used this style in the representation of his
telescope in Opticks. As a point of reference (Figure 10), it is interesting to
look at the diagram of a reºecting telescope in James Gregory’s Optica
promota (1663, pp. 92–95).

Gregory discussed his design in the epilogus of the Optica promota which
stands apart from the rest of the treatise. In fact, it has been suggested that
this section was added later to the Optica promota after Gregory had arrived
in London and realized the possibility of actually constructing a telescope
(Simpson 1992). A so-called trial of the design was made by the London
optician Richard Reeve after the publication of the treatise.19 Interest-
ingly, the trial was made with a spherical concave mirror, because Gregory
was well aware that the making of non-spherical mirrors and lenses had
been “vainly attempted by others.” Notwithstanding the knowledge
which Gregory had gathered in the London workshops, the diagram in the

17. For a partial edition of Newton’s Of refractions, see Whiteside 1967, 1: 559–576.

For discussion, see Hall 1955.

18. There are more drawings of lens-grinding machines on fols. 26r, 29v, 30v (Cam-
bridge University Library, Add. 4000). Some are reproduced in Burnett 2005, pp. 104–
106. Burnett correctly noted the connection between Newton’s machine and Wren’s, but
he is confused about the source of the drawings on fol. 30v, which he claims to be “in an-
other Newton manuscript” (p. 105). In fact, all these drawings are in the same manuscript.

19. On Richard Reeve, see Simpson 1985.

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Optica promota clearly showed a parabolic mirror. The practice of the work-
shops and the theory of Gregory’s treatise are two worlds apart. Gregory
followed another path than the “vain attempts” of the Cartesian program
and this shows in his image of the telescope—unambiguously, a diagram.
Newton’s diagram of his reºecting telescope (Figure 11) in Opticks is
more equivocal (Newton 1704, pp. 79–80). The diagram shows a concave
mirror abcd “quick-silvered over on the backside”—thus made of glass—
and ªxed in a tube blackened on the inside. This primary mirror reºects
the rays to a prism of glass or crystal gcf attached to a handle of brass or
iron k which holds the prism in the middle of the tube. This prism brings
the rays to t which is the common focus of the concave mirror and the
plano-convex lens h, through which the image is viewed. The image is in-
verted, but Newton noted that it could be erected by making the prism’s
sides, ef and eg, convex. Newton did not specify any dimensions (relevant
to the diagram of his telescope in Opticks) nor was there any indication of a
mounting or a mode of focusing.20

Newton never built a telescope to this design (at least, evidence of this
is lacking) (Mills and Turvey 1979). As we will see, the telescope which
was presented to the Royal Society in 1672 had a small plane mirror in-
stead of a prism. Moreover, the primary mirror was not made of glass, but
of metal. In Opticks Newton explained that “because Metal is more
difªcult to polish than Glass and is afterwards very apt to be spoiled by
tarnishing, and reºects not so much Light as Glass quick-silvered over
does”, he thought of using a glass mirror to make a reºecting telescope
(Newton 1704, p. 77). An attempt by “one of our London Artists”—most
likely the lens-grinder Christopher Cock—in 1683 had been unsucces-
ful.21 Repeating a topos of practice and theory which was typical of the
Cartesian lens-grinding tradition, Newton was convinced that “there
wants nothing but a good Artist to bring the design to Perfection” (New-
ton 1704, pp. 77–78; Shapiro 1993, pp. 154–155). Moreover, like the im-
ages of lens-grinding machines but unlike Gregory’s diagram, Newton’s
representation in Opticks suggests the possibility of realizing the mathemat-
ical principle of the design. While Wren’s image of his engine used shad-
ing, Newton’s image—look at the mirror, the handle, the prism—is a
cross-section.

20. The only dimensions given in Opticks were in the historical account of the happen-
ings of 1672. He speciªed that the concave mirror was ground to a sphere of 25 inches so
that its focal length was about 6 1/4 inches. The diameter of the sphere to which the con-
vex side of the plano-convex ocular was ground was 1/5 of an inch. See Newton 1704,
p. 75.

21. On Christopher Cock, see Simpson 1989.

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337

2. The Reception of Newton’s Telescope
The image of Newton’s telescope in Opticks was different from the one that
had appeared in Philosophical Transactions when Newton presented his tele-
scope to the Royal Society in 1672 (Figure 12). The latter image was also
different from other contemporary images of telescopes which I have dis-
cussed above. Unlike Hevelius’ pictures of his telescopes (see Figure 1) the
image in Philosophical Transactions presented Newton’s telescope without a
context (a landscape—the city of Danzig—or an architectural context—
Hevelius’ observatory). Moreover, in the image in Philosophical Transactions
the path of the light rays through the telescope is visualized—optical de-
sign information which was not visualized in Hevelius’ representations of
telescopes. Hevelius’ pictures of his telescope had a different function than
the image in Philosophical Transactions. Hevelius’ aimed at making his
readers into virtual witnesses. The function of the image in Philosophical
Transactions was to establish Newton’s priority.

The Philosophical Transactions was considered an extension in the public
sphere of the Royal Society’s Register in which inventions, instruments
and theories were recorded to establish priority and, as such, the Philosoph-
ical Transactions also took over practices established around the Register
(Johns 1998, pp. 476–485, pp. 501–502; Iliffe 1992). The Royal Society
had the right, for example, to illustrate an invention in the Register with
a drawing of its own making. This also happened with Newton’s telescope
in Philosophical Transactions. Henry Oldenburg had a drawing of the tele-
scope made (Figure 13) and sent to Christiaan Huygens to claim priority
for Newton.22 An engraving of the instrument also illustrated the publica-
tion of the verbal account of Newton’s telescope in Philosophical Transac-
tions (Figure 12).23 It is clear that this engraving was based on the drawing
which Oldenburg had sent to Huygens. The only difference was in the
representation of the mounting.

Indeed, in Philosophical Transactions the telescope is presented as a three-
dimensional object with a system of focusing and a mounting. At New-
ton’s request the dimensions of the optical components were also given
(Turnbull 1959, p. 79).24 It is also informative to point out the differences

22. Oldenburg wrote to Newton on 2 January 1671/2 that “they [the Philosophers at
the Royal Society] think it necessary to use some meanes to secure this Invention from ye
Usurpation of forreiners; And therefore have taken care to represent by a scheme that ªrst
Specimen, sent hither by you, and to describe all ye parts of ye Instrument, together wth
its effect, compared wth an ordinary, but much larger, Glasse; and to send this ªgure, and
description by ye Secretary of ye R. Soc. . . . in a Solemne letter to Paris to M. Hugens,
thereby to prevent the arrogation of such strangers . . .” (Turnbull 1959, p. 73). On
Oldenburg’s role in the management of scientiªc communication, see Avramov 2002.

23. On the printing of Philosophical Transactions, see Rivington 1984; Andrade 1965.
24. In the account of Newton’s telescope in Philosophical Transactions, it is noted that

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between this image and the one presumably used by Newton in commu-
nication with a telescope tube maker (Figure 14) (Simpson 1989, p. 52).
The latter drawing shows the telescope as a three-dimensional object—
but with indications of the dimensions of the different parts of the tube,
and with a mounting and a (albeit different) mode of focusing. Moreover,
in contrast to the drawing in Philosophical Transactions, the path of the
light rays is not visualized in the drawing intended for the craftsman. In-
deed, such information is of little value to the craftsman who—drawing in
hand—makes the telescope, but it is of interest to the mathematically in-
formed readers of Philosophical Transactions. The dimensions of the differ-
ent parts of the tube, however, are relevant for the craftsman, but not
when establishing priority in the community of mathematicians. It might
even be important to keep material information hidden when an inventor
wanted to win a priority dispute.

There is no doubt that the image in Philosophical Transactions was of a
speciªc instrument, and that the image in Opticks was not. That dimen-
sions were speciªed in Philosophical Transactions and not in the Opticks was
consequential for the reception of Newton’s instrument. The image in
Philosophical Transactions, I claim, supported a reception of Newton’s tele-
scope in which dimension was the crucial factor—a reception that went
against Newton’s intentions. In Philosophical Transactions Newton’s “New
Theory about Light and Colors” was published ªrst. The description of
Newton’s telescope appeared only after the publication of the theory on
the compound nature of light. The sequence of the papers reversed the or-
der in which Oldenburg received Newton’s letters.25 The reversed se-
quence should have made it obvious to the readers of Philosophical Transac-
tions that this new type of telescope design was the outcome of Newton’s
theoretical optical research.26 This was the reception which Newton in-
tended for his instrument. However, this was not the reception that it re-
ceived.

While Newton tried to make his instrument into a proof of the su-
premacy of his theory of colours over older theories, his telescope was wel-

the focal length of the primary mirror is 6 1/3 inches (against 6 1/4 inches in Opticks)
(Newton 1672, p. 4005).

25. To Oldenburg’s request to publish an account of Newton’s telescope in Philosophical
Transactions, Newton responded: “I am puprosing them [Royal Society], to be considered of
& examined, an accompt of a Philosophicall discovery wch induced mee to the making of
the said Telescope, & wch I doubt not will prove much more gratefull then the communi-
cation of that instrument, . . .”. Newton to Oldenburg, 18 January 1671/2 (Turnbull
1959, p. 82).

26. On the reception of Newton’s theory of light and color, see Shapiro 1996; Shapiro

1980.

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comed as a way to shorten telescopes, not as a way to solve the problem of
chromatic aberration (Bechler 1975). The drawing sent to Huygens and
the engraving published in Philosophical Transactions encouraged this re-
sponse. The ªgures of the crown—A as magniªed through Newton’s tele-
scope, B as magniªed through “a common tube of 25 inches long”—were
included in the drawing and engraving to make the point that Newton’s
short telescope allowed for a magniªcation which—at least—equalled
that of longer telescopes. Tellingly, Newton had to inform Oldenburg that
“perhaps it may give some satisfaction to Mounsieur Hugens to under-
stand in wt degree it represents things distinct & free from colours”.27 The
bottom line of Oldenburg’s description of Newton’s telescope was not that
the image was free from chromatic aberration, but that Newton’s shorter
instrument magniªed as much as ordinary, longer telescopes.

The after-life of the drawing sent to Huygens shows that this was a
widely shared reception of Newton’s telescope. The drawing was engraved
(Figure 15) to illustrate a description of Newton’s telescope—together
with Huygens’ response to it—in Journal des Sçavans of 29 February
1672.28 The Journal des Sçavans singled out among the many advantages of
Newton’s telescope that “it shortens the tubes of telescopes without di-
minishing their magniªcation and this makes them thus much easier to
manipulate” (Anonymous 1672, p. 52). Moreover, it was stressed that “the
ªgure which I give here is of the same size as the Telescope which is repre-
sented” (Anonymous 1672, p. 53). Surely, the picture of the instrument,
claimed not only to be to scale, but actually real life size, was meant to
emphasize how small the instrument was. Moreover, in a contemporary
Italian account of Newton’s invention, it was again the shortness of the in-
strument which was emphasized, already in its title “Description of a
small telescope through which remote objects are seen as distinctively as
with the larger telescopes”.29 The small dimensions of Newton’s instru-
ment were additionally stressed by placing a depiction of Giuseppe
Campani’s aerial telescopes (of very long lengths) next to a drawing of
Newton’s telescope (Figure 16).30

27. Newton to Oldenburg, 6 January 1671/2 (Turnbull 1959, p. 79).
28. Huygens forwarded Oldenburg’s drawing and description to Gallois in February

1672. See Huygens [1672] 1888–1905, 7: 134–136.

29. “Descrittione d’ un piccolo occhiale mediante il quale si vedono l’ ogietti remoti
tanto distintamente quanto si puo fare colli maggiori telescopi”, Ms. 1496 (Biblioteca
Universitaria, Bologna).

30. Bonelli and Van Helden note that Campani suggested the form of mounting pic-
tured in Figure 16 when he sent lenses—with which Cassini discovered Tethys and Dione
in 1684—to Paris in the early 1680s. They also suggest that “this sheet was probably
printed separately before 1684” and that the picture was “the frontispiece of Francesco
Bianchini’s Hesperi et Phosphori, Rome, 1728” (Bonelli and Van Helden 1981, p. 41).

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Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to point to the importance of institutional con-
text for understanding the differences between the images of Newton’s
telescope in Philosophical Transactions and in Opticks. These differences
should be considered within the broader context of Newton’s attitude to-
wards the early Royal Society. It was in those early years of the Royal Soci-
ety that a commission for the improvement of telescopes co-existed with a
natural history project, the publication of Francis Willughby’s Historia
Piscium (Hunter 1989, pp. 80–82).31 It has been argued that the hostile re-
action (foremost of Hooke) to Newton’s paper on color was caused by the
experimental and natural history tradition of the Royal Society which
clashed with Newton’s belief in the primacy of mathematics in natural
philosophy (Feingold 2001).32 The visual way in which Newton’s tele-
scope was communicated in Philosophical Transactions ªtted the experimen-
tal and natural history tradition of the early Royal Society rather than
Newton’s own belief in the primacy of mathematics. One could say that
the image of the telescope in Opticks ªnally set the record straight for
Newton in its faithfulness to his triumphing belief in the primacy of
mathematics.

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Figure 1. View of Hevelius’ observatory. From Johannes Hevelius, Machinae
coelestis (Gedani, Simon Reiniger, 1673). Ghent University Library, Ma 30, be-
tween pp. 444 and 445.

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Figure 2. Descartes’ lens-grinding machine. From René Descartes, Discours de la
méthode. . . . Plus la dioptrique. . . . (Leyde, Jan Maire, 1637), p. 147. By permission
of the Royal Library Albert I of Belgium (Brussels).

Perspectives on Science

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Figure 3. Diagram of Descartes’ lens-grinding machine. From René Descartes
to Jean Ferrier, 8 October 1629 (AT 1897, 1:34).

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Figure 4. The grinding wheel of Descartes’ machine. From René Descartes to
Jean Ferrier, 8 October 1629 (AT 1897, 1:35).

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Figure 5. Picture of Descartes’ lens-grinding machine. From René Descartes to
Jean Ferrier, 13 November 1629 (AT 1897, 1:56).

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Figure 6. Hooke’s lens-grinding machine. From Robert Hooke, Micrographia
(London, I. Martyn and J. Allestry, 1665), shelfmark G1524, ªgure 3. By permis-
sion of The British Library.

350

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Figure 8. Christopher Wren’s lens-grinding machine. From (Wren, 1669b),
shelfmark (P) BX80-E43(4), no. 53. By permission of The British Library.

352

Newton’s Telescope in Print

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Figure 9. Isaac Newton’s lens-grinding machine. From University Library
(Cambridge), Ms. Add. 4000, fol. 26v. By permission of the Syndics of Cam-
bridge University Library.

Perspectives on Science

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Figure 10. Gregory’s telescope. From James Gregory, Optica promota (Londini,
1663). Shelfmark 537.f.40, p. 94. By permission of The British Library.

354

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Figure 12. Newton’s telescope. From (Newton 1672), Ghent University Li-
brary, P26, page following frontispiece.

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Figure 14. Drawing of Newton’s telescope. From University Library (Cam-
bridge), Ms. Add. 3970, fols. 591r and 592v. By permission of the Syndics of
Cambridge University Library.

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Figure 15. Newton’s telescope. From (Anonymous 1672), Ghent University Li-
brary, P825, between pp. 52 and 53.

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Figure 16. Giuseppe Campani’s arial telescope. From “Descrittione d’un piccolo
occhiale mediante il quale si vedono l’ogietti remoti tanto distintamente quanto
si puo fare colli maggiori telescopi”. Biblioteca Universitaria (Bologna), Ms.
1496. Newton’s Telescope in image

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