[1]British model and actress Amy Jackson and actor Prateik Babbar at an event in Mumbai on Monday night. — AFP
Scientists have unearthed five bone-made instruments dating to the 18th century which they say are finely crafted telescopes that may have been used to gaze at objects on land or sea. Ranging in length from roughly three to five inches, the telescopes — discovered in Amsterdam, the Netherl-ands — were made using cattle metatarsal bone.
At the time, called the Enlightenment, the telescopes would have been considered luxury items and were likely used to gaze at objects on land or sea, rather than to look at the stars. They were created during a period when Amsterdam was a flourishing centre for trade, one that attracted talented craftsmen.
“This particular bone of cow, the metatarsal bone, is actually quite straight and round,” Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen, of the Am-sterdam Archaeological Centre at the University of Amsterdam, said. “It’s a nice shape to make these telescopes from, it’s straight and (has a) very round narrow cavity.” Each telescope would have had a pair of lenses — like the system used by Galileo — a convex objective and a concave ocular, to magnify objects.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/british-model-and-actress-amy-jackson-and-actor-prateik-babbar-event-mumbai-monday-night-afp-807