Question

One of the results of the inventions of the microscope and telescope is that it expanded the world as people knew it. Distant stars and microscopic organisms previously unseen and unknown provided a wealth of knowledge to scholars. Which of these statements is true regarding these two inventions?
A.
Galileo made important improvements to both instruments.
B.
Lenses in microscopes and telescopes can form perfect images.
C.
Image resolution has advanced as far as it can ever go.
D.
Telescopic lenses, found in Greece, date back 2000 years.

Answer 1

A

Galileo did important work improving both. He built much better telescopes (used them for his astronomical discoveries) and also produced and described an improved microscope (the “occhiolino”). The other choices are incorrect: lenses suffer aberrations (so not “perfect”), resolution limits can still be extended by new techniques, and telescopes did not exist in ancient Greece.