Re: [ATM] lensmaker for a very long focus objective

["Bruce Stephenson" <bstephenson@adlernet.org>]

David Stevens wrote:

>Unfortunatly this was probably one of the people responsible for the
>demise
>of the optical shop in the "new"planetarium. I do not feel compelled to
>help these people ,they seem to be more interested in showing people
>science fiction and "flash" than anything to do with observational
>astronomy.

I am not, in fact, one of the people responsible for the demise of the
Adler's optical shop, and I would not want it thought that I was.
The decision to convert the optical shop to exhibit space was made
before I came to the Adler in 1995. I protested, but exhibit space
was at a premium, and was judged a higher priority than the
optical shop.

What I am is a _historian_ of astronomy. The proposed 
exhibition is not about optics as such, but about the history 
of astronomy in the 17th - 19th centuries, and in particular 
about the early history of the telescope. Nobody should
"feel compelled" to help us. We want to show museum visitors
what telescopes were like in the 17th and 18th centuries. We
need technical assistance with an increasingly rare skill,
grinding big, long objective lenses.

Incidentally, it's a grim fact that a planetarium these days needs 
big attendance numbers if it is to keep afloat, and I'm afraid that
science fiction and "flash" seem to bring in more people than
anything you or I want to talk about.

>A far better display would be to have an actual telescope (refractor, if
>you will) set up for public viewing of the sun or planets.

For what it's worth, the Adler does offer public viewing through 
telescopes on the first Friday of every month, conditions
permitting.

- Bruce Stephenson
===============================
Bruce Stephenson, Ph.D.
Curator and Director, History of Astronomy
Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum
+1 312-322-0820 (V) +1 312-341-9935 (F)
bstephenson@adlernet.org

_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/