Florian Nelle: Telescopes, and the Instrumental Revelation of New Worlds

"As is indicated here, the purpose of instruments in the seventeenth century is more than finding facts and truths. Yet they certainly do fulfill this purpose. They are inquisitorial instruments, as they, in Hooke's words, force nature "to confess, either directly or indirectly, the Truth of what we inquire." Furthermore, they nurture hopes for the profitability of imperialism and colonialism. Hooke proudly emphasizes the way the Royal Society is financially supported by pragmatic businessman. In this context, it should be mentioned that Bacon was also concerned with contemporary colonial projects. In 1597, he wrote the short memorandum Of Plantations, and in 1609 contributed to an expedition which ended up stranded in the Bermudas. (In his turn, William Shakespeare was inspired to take up the issue of colonization in The Tempest.) Finding a method to determine longitude, one of the main tasks of the Royal Society, was considered essential for maintaining England's naval supremacy.”

..."Thus, everyday things can become the stage for instrumentally sharpened curiosity. It is definitely possible to call this the poetics of the instrument, especially as this experimental art of observation is so strikingly close to the mannerist program. At the same time, the telescope and other optical glasses become the central emblem of mannerist program. In Emanuelo Tesauro’s work, Galileo’s a discovery of sunspots thus becomes an allegory for a surprising twist, thanks to the clever poet’s acutezza. Like a telescope, the metaphor’s role in mannerist poetry is to connect remote points with each other. By bringing together seemingly disparate points it creates surprising insights. Thus the instrument becomes an essential device for the production of wonders. It presents nature as an astonishing stage for a mysterious world, which –and this is actually the point- has to be penetrated by means of instruments.“

...“Instruments create aesthetic effects of wonder and reveal new worlds. They offer orientation in the chaos they cause, and yet they mostly refer to themselves. All of this is true for the theatre as well, which at the turn of the seventeenth century becomes the prime instrument of cultural politics. Scientific instruments promise to create artificial paradises. Yet it is the theatre of machines that constructs these new and better worlds in an exemplary way.”