Customer Reviews

The Kaleidoscope Book: A Spectrum of Spectacular Scopes to Make

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thom Boswell has written a wonderful book on the art of Kaleidoscopes. It opens with a brief history and explanation of the science behind these magical instruments. Next follows a beautiful gallery of color images which highlights not only the splendor of the inside of the scope, but also the creativity and artistic skill of many kaleidoscope makers. The pictures taken inside the scopes are the clearest and most beautiful I've ever seen. And the artistry of the exteriors is beyond belief. Many artists are featured and their scopes displayed for your enjoyment. You will be touched by each as they work their own unique magic in designing and building some of the most wonderful scopes imaginable. Finally, Mr. Boswell provides you with plans and projects for building your own kaleidoscopes. There are designs for scopes made from PVC pipe, stained glass, wood, brass and other materials. Each project is fully explained and illustrated and even a novice will be successful at kaleidoscope building using these instructions. This section of the book was a real eye opener for me, as I had never imagined that I could create a kaleidoscope myself. After reading this book, I have become an avid scope maker (...). I can highly recommend this book for anyone who likes kaleidoscopes or would like to learn how to make one. (...)You won't be sorry if you buy this book!

Gabe Wizard, Forum Host
Kaleidoscope Korner
(...)

I have been making kaleidoscopes professionally for years prior to this book coming out. When I found it, I fell in love. It inspired new creations, yet also returned the excitement of simplicity of the designs. I recommend this book to anyone getting started in kaleidoscope making. Some of the references need to be ignored, butitis worth buying. Nice, easy to read, good images, instructions are easy to follow. One of my top two picks in books on kaleidoscopes (I think I should know cause my library of kaleidoscopes books is now at 15).

This easy to follow, well laid out how-to book will allow you to make a simple kaleidoscope within the first few hours and very complex ones in a manner of days. My children loved having daddy's attention to making them each a scope.

I'm new in this art, but this book is very good to beginners like me, it teaches the secrets of the mirrors, so i can build my own designs. many pictures and well designs

This is a beautiful book, with lovely kaleidoscopes for inspiration. However, I am looking for a VERY beginning book for someone who knows absolutely nothing. This book isn't it. Nice to look at, though.

Ever wonder how a kaleidoscope works? This will explain everything and tell the reader how they can be made. A beautiful book,and a great coffee table book too.

I am a kaleidoscope collector and this book had some I never had imagined. Plus there are some great ideas for my students, too. This is one I will put in my classroom library.

The Kaleidoscope book is just that a book all about kaleidoscopes. It has some history and variations of the kaleidoscope their origins and uses.
I have made a couple of the examples and found the instructions easy to follow. Some of the elements I needed were difficult to get hold of and this may be to do with the age of the book. Adaptions were quite easy to find.

I purchased this book after reading dozens of reviews, saying it was challenging and wonderful. This book is for small children, it's not challenging, and it only explains how to make 2 and 3 mirror scopes, it doesn't even explain the 4 and 5 mirrored scopes. Buying this book was a mistake, and it was a waste of money. This book was supposed to have informative and easy instruction to build complex scopes, I've never built one before, and just glancing at the pages, im grossed out. The bulk of each instruction is about how to decorate the scope, the only challenge is to add stained glass, or make a wheel. My advice to any serious student is to not purchase this, keep looking for something that is more about kaleidoscopes, and less about who makes the prettiest kaleidoscope and how to make the best scopes. That's a basic summary of this kindergarden level book. I would give it no stars, but I can only go as low as 1! This book is a joke, stay away!!!!

Beautiful book, for big and small. I have been charmed with it. Much better than he was imagining.