History and Future of Telescopes - Episode 164

Telescopes have been around for hundreds of years, allowing us to explore space from the comfort of our local observatory. But how did the first one come about? And who were the great minds to continue to improve on the original design to make it what the telescope what it is today? We take a look at the early history of the telescope, discuss how people like Galileo and Newton contributed to it's progress, investigate the factors that go into the ideal place for an observatory, and touch on why the TMT (thirty meter telescope) is having trouble being built on Mauna Kea.