Telescopes from the Ground Up

This tutorial traces the history of the telescope, beginning with Galileo's first small refractor, to the era of orbiting space telescopes. Topics include Galileo's trouble with the church over the observations he made with his new instrument, Sir Isaac Newton's invention of the reflecting telescope, and the development of technologies that made it possible to construct increasingly larger, more powerful optical telescopes. The tutorial concludes with the discovery of radio signals emanating from space and the construction of radio telescopes, multi-mirror optical telescopes, technologies to view other types of radiation, space telescopes, and solar telescopes. Links are provided to teaching tips and to online resources with additional information. Educational levels: Intermediate elementary, Middle school, High school