Museo Galileo
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Virtual Museum
Chérubin d'Orléans
1613-1697

A Capuchin father and distinguished physicist, Chérubin d'Orléans (François Lasséré) devoted himself to the study of optics and to vision-related problems, which he discussed in La dioptrique oculaire and La vision parfaite (Paris, 1671 and 1677 respectively). He invented the first binocular telescope. He devised and may also have built a special type of eyepiece that replaced the lens with a short tube. Chérubin is also credited with producing models of the eyeball for studying the lens function of the eye.