It is ironic that Claudius Ptolemy, who had deeply studied the phenomena of refraction and reflection (including the effects of refraction in the atmosphere on the apparent positions of stars) and who as we will see played a crucial role in the history of astronomy, never realized that lenses and curved mirrors could be used to magnify the images of astronomical bodies, as in Galileo Galilei’s refracting telescope and the reflecting telescope invented by Isaac Newton.
My understanding is that quality lensmaking is late medieval. I don't think Ptolemy could have made a telescope.
