It’s easy to forget that some pieces of technology we take for granted changed the world when they were first made available. One of the most transformative pieces of technology in is the telescope. The craft of these devices are truly astonishing. Here’s more from UK Science Museum:
Astronomers experimented with different recipes for speculum metal over the centuries, but the two main ingredients were copper and tin. Newton added small amounts of arsenic to his, arguing that it made the metal whiter and more reflective. He did at least take some basic precautionary measures when melting this poisonous substance to make his alloy, ‘bewaring in the mean time, not to draw in breath near the pernicious fumes’ (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 7 (1672)).
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