Well, any of us who has ever looked through a telescope could say the same, for the two principal types in use today were developed by giants: the refractor by Galileo and the reflector by Newton.

The original instrument to occupy the 25-foot diameter dome was the 10.5-inch Bausch refracting telescope (f/15.5) installed in the brand new observatory in 1953. Bausch & Lomb Company gave the ...