The young Jesuit missionary Manuel Dias told his Chinese readers in 1610 about "a famous Western sage" who had constructed an instrument that made the moon seem "a thousand times larger." Who was that Western sage?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Galileo Galilei was known for his work on telescopes and observations of celestial bodies. He constructed a telescope that allowed him to observe the moon in much greater detail, which may have been the instrument referred to by Manuel Dias. The other options, Newton, Bacon, and Kepler, were all famous Western intellectuals of the time, but their work did not involve the construction of instruments to observe the moon.

The Young Jesuit Missionary Manuel Dias Told His Chinese Readers