Re: ATM Book recommendations?

[Anthony Stillman <atmer@flash.net>]

pat, others

First of all, hello.

grabbing what I could in easy reach, I came up with

Telescope Optics
evaluation and design
Harrie Rutten and Martin van Venrooij
two scientists, who are knowledgeable in optics, write the best generally
useful amateur oriented book they can.  Highly readable, only basic algebra
skills are needed for the examples.  The book covers broad subject matter
from designing triplets to baffling a cassegrain. Much of the book compares
differing telescope designs, showing layout and spot diagram. There are
sections on tolerencing, abberations, eyepieces, and focal correctors.
Many diferrent types of telescopes are discussed.





Advanced Telescope Making Techniques
Allan Mackintosh
Volume 1 Optics
featuring Selected Articles from the Maksutov Circulars

Those telescope makers who came before us expressing things the way they
understood them, both with advanced and limited math skills.  Still, only
basic algebraic skills are needed.  Of course, they concentrated on issues
surrounding Maksutov type telescopes, but the book is generally useful.
Covers practicle issues such as testing and coping with the problematic.
Edited and assembled by Allan Mackintosh with help from Hawkings and Baar,
it presents articles as far afield as a home made interferometer to a
precision foucault tester. It even discusses how to make a low tech ronchi,
(I actually made such a grating a few years after I got started in ATMing,
from a description in ATM I, also a good book.)(1)   Sections in the book
include Figuring, Testing, Theory, Design and Spectroheliopes.
Interferometers and Handheld calculator code for the SR-52 and HP-25 type
calculators.

ATM I, II, III
I haven't studied the updated versions of these. Perhaps others will chime in.

Texereau
I like Texereau, but I don't recomend the second edition, though, I'll
excerpt it.
What we need is a third edition


anthony






1) OT   Is it just me or does it seem wrong to anyone else that one should
first end the sentence then end the parenthesis?  That's always seemed
wrong to me.