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Concept
Amateur Telescope Making
Summary
Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) is a series of three books edited by Albert G. Ingalls between 1926 and 1953 while he was an associate editor at Scientific American. The books cover various aspects of telescope construction and observational technique, sometimes at quite an advanced level, but always in a way that is accessible to the intelligent amateur. The caliber of the contributions is uniformly high and the books have remained in constant use by both amateurs and professionals.
The first volume was essentially a reprinting of articles written by Ingalls and Russell W. Porter for Ingalls's monthly column "The Backyard Astronomer" (later "The Amateur Scientist") in the 1920s. It also featured numerous drawings by Porter. The two later volumes contained chapters written by James Gilbert Baker, George Ellery Hale, George Willis Ritchey and others on topics ranging from lens grinding to monochromators to photoelectric photometry. Much of the information, including Porter's articles on the Springfield mount and Franklin Wright's and Henry E. Paul's articles on the design and construction of Schmidt cameras, appeared for the first and only time in these books.
The ATM books are widely credited with having initiated the amateur telescope making movement in the United States. They are often referred to collectively as the "bible" of amateur telescope making.
Shortly after joining the editorial staff at Scientific American in 1923, Ingalls happened to see an article by Russell Porter in Popular Astronomy magazine describing the work of "The Telescope Makers of Springfield, Vermont." Ingalls contacted Porter, who arranged a visit to New York. Porter convinced Ingalls to use Scientific American as a platform for "spreading the telescope making virus."
The first article appeared in November 1925; in it, Ingalls wrote that if there was a strong enough response from readers, he would write a follow-up article with instructions for making a mirror and mounting for a simple telescope.
Official source
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