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Who invented the telescope ?

The telescope is considered to have been invented by a Dutch spectacle maker, Hans Lippershay, in about 1608. However, no one is certain about this. But, the real wonder is why the telescope was not invented much earlier. Glass lenses are known to have been in use much before this period, even in the 13th century. Pieces of glass that helped magnify or clarify images were first used in spectacles to improve the vision of people with imperfect eyesight, in Italy in the late thirteenth century, although crude versions may have been used in China several centuries earlier. The Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo was the first one to have recorded astronomical observations with the telescope. In 1609 Galileo used an improved version of Lippershay`s invention to study the sky. Galileo`s telescope could magnify things twenty times the actual size. With the help of the new telescope, Galileo observed the moon orbiting Jupiter.