Amateur Telescope Making (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) [Paperback]

Stephen Tonkin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1852330007 | ISBN-13: 978-1852330002 | Publication Date: December 11, 1998 | Edition: 1st Edition.

This book provides an introduction to the design of a variety of telescopes, mounts, and drives suitable for the home-constructor. Projects include instruments that range from a shoestring budget to specialist devices that are not commercially available. The skill level of each project is indicated and advice is provided as to what is sensible to construct, given what is commercially available. Hints and tips are included, as well as listings of reputable mail order sources of materials and components.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews "... Stephen Tonkin (has) added a worthy contribution to the collective wisdom of amateur astronomy ...." SKY & TELESCOPE   SKY & TELESCOPE "…Tonkin has assembled a potpourri of excellent do-it-yourself projects, ranging from small refractors and simple rich-field telescopes to large instruments with tilted-component optics and a high-performance, home-built, computer-controlled telescope…will appeal strongly to mid-level amateur astronomers, whether they are equipment buyers or builders. Novices should find much to marvel at, and advanced amateurs will appreciate the useful and timely insights into the current technology of telescopes and sensors…[a] worthy addition to the ever-growing literature of telescopes and telescope making.” REVIEWS OF ASTRONOMICAL TOOLS "The book is a nice collection of interesting ideas on telescopes and accessories for the do-it-yourself astronomer.” NEW SCIENTIST "For advice on how to get going, look no further than two excellent books – AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING and ASTRONOMICAL EQUIPMENT FOR AMATEURS…Highly recommended.”

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st Edition. edition (December 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852330007
• ISBN-13: 978-1852330002
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Telescopes
  • #72 in Books > Science & Math > Experiments, Instruments & Measurement > Scientific Instruments

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As the S&T reviw says, "a worthy addition"., December 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Amateur Telescope Making (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)

A marvellous little book which can be used as a manual and inspiring bed-time reading. Although some projects can be found on the web, the book version usually expands on these or is very different (and probably more permanent). The book's strength is that it has has selected projects which are easy to replicate and which complement each other. Its weakness is that there isn't more of it.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY, July 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Amateur Telescope Making (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)

This is an edited book with different authors contributing an article each. Thus these is no coherency. It seems that the editor had asked each contributing author to just give an article about his or her telescope making experience. Thus all the chapters are separate entities without any cross-references (between chapters). Finally they do not go in any detail what so ever. It is more like a "1001 Project Book" which claims that (after reading the book) you can do every thing from repairing cars, TVs, VCR, DVDs to building an airplane, except that the book only devote half a page to all the 1001 projects. You just cannot make a telescope by reading this book (unless you already know how to make one).

BTW: you can find more information on the web than what this book delivers. I am just glad that I borrowed it from the library, and did not buy it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great telescope making book for anyone......., June 15, 2002

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amateur Telescope Making (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) (Paperback)

We are an amateur astronomy loving family who got into making our own telescopes after getting involved in the Friday night telescope classes and lectures at the Chabot observatory in Oakland California back in the early 80's.

And being homeschoolers we were also big science fans and have always encouraged people to become as hands on science minded as possible. This books is a perfect example of hands on science at its best as well as a book that should put to rest the idea that only rich people own telescopes or that only people with science degrees use telescope.

The book is shy 300 pages and covers everything from Shoestring telescopes you can make, using items you have around the house as well as items you can find for free at carpet stores. Specialized telescopes is about building a high contrast planetary setup, as well as Rright camera. There is an excellent section on mounts. I would hope every library would own a copy of the book and believe that every homeschooling family should as well.