The Invention of the Telescope was first printed by the American Philosophical Society in June 1977. No book on the study of telescopes since that time has surpassed this work of Albert van Helden.

Cornelis de Waard, in his "De uitvinding der verrekijkers" (The Hague, 1906), uncovered many new documents bearing on the genesis of the telescope. Dr. van Helden began this project as a translation of de Waard’s study. However, he decided that the profession and de Waard's memory would be better served by a collection and translation of all the relevant primary sources named in his study.

The year 2008 marks the 400th year of the existence of the telescope, a most appropriate time to reprint The Invention of the Telescope.