Re: S&T & ATMing

[Bill McHale <wmchal1@umbc.edu>]

On Sun, 27 Dec 1998, David McCarter wrote:

> On S&T's part I would like to see all the Gleanings articles republished in
> book or paperback form, kinda like the Scientific American articles that
> Ingles put together into ATM#1, #2 and #3. I have a few years S&T back
> issues, but they are hard to find in these parts. 
>

I like this idea... and mind you Sky and Telescope did it once before... I
believe it was back in the 1960's.  They produced a series of books that
collected articles that appeared in Sky and Telescope.  One of the books
was devoted to instruments and instrument making.  It had some basic info
on Maks, Springfield Telescopes and others. 

As for a complete collection of Gleanings articles?  I am not sure that
would be the best idea.  I think they need to be choosey as to which ones
they pick.  Certain gimick scopes (Like the transparent one) probably
don't need to be included, nor do ones that cover starparties.  While I
like star party articles, they tend to gloss over things very quickly
making it hard to learn alot about the scopes in them.  On the other hand,
articles dealing with new or unusual optical configurations, new
improvements to mounts or specialist scopes would all have a place there.

Also I think they should also include the series they did back in 1990 or
so where they had three different authors try to make the best telescope
possible for under $500 assuming the scope had purchased optics.  Actually
now that I think about it, a few more articles like that might be
appropriate... perhaps they could get amateurs to build the best scope
possible for $500 and then again for $1000.  It would show what was
possible for amateurs... even if they don't push their own glasss.
 

Bill

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