18 High-level scientific knowledge is essential to be at the frontier of basic and applied research; but a constructive interchange between artisans and scientists must also be developed. That is the story of the telescope.
It has been told by Ludovico Geymonat as follows: We know that lens-shaped glasses had long been familiar to optical craftsmen and used by them to correct sight defects, but until Galileo all the representatives  16  I. Visco (2014), Investire in conoscenza, Il Mulino, Bologna. 17  J. Mokyr (2009), The Enlightened Economy.