Why build a
telescope?
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Because...
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You can
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It is fun
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You will learn new
skills
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It will give you
access to the universe
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It may be
significantly cheaper
than buying one
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You can build
something tailored to your specific requirements
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"For it is
esteemed a kind of dishonour unto learning to descend to inquiry or meditation
upon matters mechanical, except they be such as may be thought secrets,
rarities, and special subtilities, which humour of vain supercilious arrogancy
is justly derided in Plato... But the truth is, they be not the highest
instances that give the securest information; as may well be expressed in the
tale... of the philosopher, that while he gazed upwards to the stars fell into
the water; for if he had looked down he might have seen the stars in the water,
but looking aloft he could not see the water in the stars. So it cometh often to
pass, that mean and small things discover great, better than great can discover
the small."
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| Bacon, Francis
(1561-1626) b. London, England. |
| From
Francis Bacon, The
Advancement of Learning, J.M. Dent and Son, London, England,
1973, pp 71-72. |
Join our ATM class
Although sporadic mirror making classes did take place
in earlier years, ASSA Johannesburg have been running Amateur Telescope Making classes
virtually continuously since 1993. As a result, many telescopes have
successfully been brought to fruition. So much so, that in 2002 we inaugurated ScopeX, an annual Telescope
& Astronomy Exposition, at which several of these have been
exhibited.
- If you are thinking about building a telescope, and live in the
Johannesburg area, why not join us?
- If you have built a telescope outside this
class, why not bring it around to inspire us and share your experiences?
- More about the class itself can be found on our ATM
Class FAQs page, easily referenced from the navigation bar at the top of
this page, or viewed in the table below.
(Access ATM FAQs in MS-Word format) |
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We frequently get the same questions on telescope making. We have collected some of the more interesting questions and
answered them in a document. Click on the icon to view it in a new window, or
right-click to download it for perusal at your leisure.
If you have further questions specifically on Amateur Telescope
Making, please enquire at
the class or submit them by e-mail via the telescope
making class discussion list. If we find them interesting enough, we
will add them to our collection.
You might want to revisit the document periodically for updates.
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