Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/11/26/Ian_Morison_400_Years_of_the_Telescope

Gresham Professor of Astronomy Ian Morison discusses some of the most memorable images from NASA's nearly 20-year-old Hubble Space Telescope.

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A lecture to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first use of a telescope to observe the heavens by Galileo Galilei in 1609.

The lecture charts the development of optical telescopes since then, the subtle ideas that are greatly improving their performance and how they are bringing ever-further parts of the universe within our reach. - Gresham College

Ian Morison - Gresham Professor of Astronomy Ian Morison made his first telescope at the age of 12 with lenses given to him by his optician. Having studied Physics, Maths and Astronomy at Oxford, he became a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Observatory and teaches Astronomy and Cosmology at the University of Manchester.

Over 25 years he has also taught Observational Astronomy to many hundreds of adult students in the North West of England. An active amateur optical astronomer, he is a council member and past president of the Society for Popular Astronomy in the United Kingdom.

At Jodrell Bank he was a designer of the 217 KM MERLIN array and has coordinated the Project Phoenix SETI Observations using the Lovell Radio Telescope. He contributes astronomy articles and reviews for New Scientist and Astronomy Now, and produces a monthly sky guide on the Observatory's website.