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Which books introduced William Herschel to optics and telescope construction?
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William Herschel
Sir William Herschel, detail of an oil painting by L. Abbott, 1785; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
William Herschel was introduced to the theory of music and subsequently to optics and telescope construction through the works of Robert Smith.1
Specifically, Herschel first studied Smith’s Harmonics to deepen his understanding of music theory. He then turned to Smith’s A Compleat System of Opticks, which provided him with the foundational techniques for telescope construction and sparked his interest in observing the night sky.1