Jacob Metius facts for kids

Jacob Metius (born after 1571, died 1628) was a skilled Dutch craftsman. He was known for making scientific tools and was very good at shaping lenses. Jacob Metius is famous for trying to get a patent for an optical telescope in October 1608. This was only a few weeks after another inventor, Hans Lippershey, also applied for a patent for the same invention. Jacob was the brother of Adriaan Metius, who was a mathematician and astronomer.

About Jacob Metius

Not much is known about Jacob Metius's life, except that he lived in a city called Alkmaar in the Netherlands. His father, Adriaan Anthonisz, was a mathematician, map-maker, and military engineer. He was also a mayor (called a burgomaster) of Alkmaar. Jacob's brother was Adriaan Metius. Jacob was born sometime after his brother, who was born in 1571. Jacob Metius died in Alkmaar. Most records say he died in 1628, but some sources suggest it could have been between 1624 and 1631.

Inventing the Telescope

In October 1608, the Dutch government (called the States General) looked at Jacob Metius's request for a patent. He wanted to protect his invention, which he described as a device for "seeing faraway things as though nearby." His telescope used two types of lenses: a convex lens (curved outwards) and a concave lens (curved inwards) placed inside a tube. This design made things look three or four times bigger. Jacob Metius's design, using a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece, might have been even better than the telescope design that Hans Lippershey showed just a few weeks earlier.

Metius told the Dutch government that he knew the secrets of glassmaking. He believed he could make an even better telescope if the government supported him. The States General gave him a small reward. However, they ended up hiring Lippershey to make telescopes that could be used with both eyes (like binoculars). Jacob Metius felt disappointed by the government's decision. He took back his patent application and did not let anyone see his telescope. In his will and testament, he even asked for all his tools and designs to be destroyed. He did not want anyone else to make money from his inventions.

There was a claim by Johannes Zachariassen, the son of Zacharias Janssen, that Janssen had invented the telescope first. Johannes said that (Adriaan) Metius and Cornelis Drebbel bought a telescope from his father and him in 1620 and copied it. However, this claim is doubted by historians. This is because Adriaan Metius was already using telescopes by 1613. Also, Drebbel had described telescopes in 1609, and Jacob Metius had tried to patent one in 1608.

See also

• List of astronomical instrument makers