One of two surviving telescopes used by Galileo - when an instrument opens up a new vista and the right intellect uses it, the world changes. Curiosity and bravery were involved. The religious dogma did not allow thought. (some things don't change much)
To celebrate the event a much better telescope is available for $15 for people who want to begin to probe the sky on their own. The review is positive and I've run across a few other positive reviews.
We've come so far. Now instruments like WMAP, ACBAR and the Cosmic Background Imager have revealed the power spectrum of the cosmic background to a precision that we know the age of the Universe since the big bang is 13.73 +/- 0.1 billion year. An amazing result and a fantastic example of human curiosity and ingenuity. Soon Planck will fly and give a better result.
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