An astrophysicist has discovered that seventeenth - hundred mathematician and astronomer Christiaan Huygens was likely near - sighted by expect at purpose for his telescopes .
Huygens , perhaps well recognize for his survey of Saturn ’s rings and thediscovery of one of its moonshine , Titan , manufactured his own scope . Towards the end of his living , he began render to figure out focal length of two lenses to get an optimized vista of distant target .
Using his studies , he and his crony make what they thought were telescopes offering the dear focus . alas , as astrophysicist Alexander G. M. Pietrow write in his paper , " Huygens ' telescope were in fact far from optimum " . There were also disagreement between Huygens ' equations and the last telescopes he build , in that he used shorter focus , overmagnifying the object he was looking at .
" This apparently arbitrary restriction could be explained if Huygens had a visual condition and built his telescopes in such a way that he could compensate for it , " Pietrow compose in the paper , " not unlike multitude do today when take off their glasses to look through a telescope and then adjusting the focus to get an image that is sharp for their eyes , a physical process in which they are in fact replacing the correction of their glasses for an allowance of the focal duration of the scope . "
Several members of Huygens ' family , including his father , were known to be nearsighted , but Christiaan did not wear glasses , which Pietrow believe implies he was only jolly nearsighted . This tantrum with his own estimates , produced by comparing Huygen ’s through empirical observation - derived equations for optimal focus with what we have now derived through the development of calculus and our improved understanding of eye .
Pietrow rule that Huygens had a " modest example of nearsightedness ( or near - eyesight ) and that he make up this experimental condition by building scope that overmagnified by a gene of 3.5 . Based on this theory , Huygens ' visual keenness is estimated to be around 20/70 , which on modal corresponds to an optical prescription of −1.5 diopters . "
Pietrow said in astatementthat “ This is probable the first ever posthumous monocle prescription ever , and done for someone who lived 330 years ago at that ! ”
As well as it being undeniably nerveless to playact optometrist to someone who died one C ago , it possibly excuse why Huygens ' business was n’t really flourishing .
" Assuming that these scope were designed for Huygens ' progressive tense seeing bring home the bacon a possible account as to why his telescopes never gained a with child circulation outside of his family unit , " Pietrow state in the paper .
The study was published in theRoyal Society Journal of the History of Science .
