The following timeline lists the significant events in the invention and development of the telescope. BC 2560 BC to 1 BC c.2560 BC–c.860 BC — Egyptian artisans polish rock crystal, semi-precious stones, and latterly glass to produce facsimile eyes for statuary and mummy cases. The intent appears to be to produce an optical illusion. c.470 BC–c.390 BC — Chinese philosopher Mozi writes on the use of concave mirrors to focus the sun's rays. 424 BC Aristophanes "lens" is a glass globe filled with water.(Seneca says that it can be used to read letters no matter how small or dim) 3rd century BC Euclid is the first to write about reflection and refraction and notes that light travels in straight lines AD 1 AD to 999 AD 2nd century AD — Ptolemy (in his work Optics) wrote about the properties of light including: reflection, refraction, and colour. 984 — Ibn Sahl completes a treatise On Burning Mirrors and Lenses, describing plano-convex and biconvex lenses, and parabolic and ellipsoidal mirrors. 1000 AD to 1999 AD 1011–1021 — Ibn al-Haytham (also known as Alhacen or Alhazen) writes the Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics) 12th century — Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics is introduced to Europe translated into Latin. 1230–1235 — Robert Grosseteste describes the use of 'optics' to "...make small things placed at a distance appear any size we want, so that it may be possible for us to read the smallest letters at incredible distances..." ("Haec namque pars Perspectivae perfecte cognita ostendit nobis modum, quo res longissime distantes faciamus apparere propinquissime positas et quo res magnas propinquas faciamus apparere brevissimas et quo res longe positas parvas faciamus apparere quantum volumus magnas, ita ut possible sit nobis ex incredibili distantia litteras minimas legere, aut arenam, aut granum, aut gramina, aut quaevis minuta numerare.") in his work De Iride. 1266 — Roger Bacon mentions the magnifying properties of transparent objects in his treatise Opus Majus. 1270 (approx) — Witelo writes Perspectiva — "Optics" incorporating much of Kitab al-Manazir. 1285–1300 spectacles are invented. 1570 — The writings of Thomas Digges describes how his father, English mathematician and surveyor Leonard Digges (1520–1559), made use of a "proportional Glass" to view distant objects and people. Some, such as the historian Colin Ronan, claim this describes a reflecting or refracting telescope built between 1540 and 1559 but its vague description and claimed performance makes it dubious. 1570s —