Holcomb, Fitz, and Peate: Three 19th Century American Telescope Makers |
Introduction I. Amasa Holcomb, 1787-1875 II. Henry Fitz, 1808-1863 III. John Peate, 1820-1903 FOOTNOTES Appendix Reports of Committees of the Franklin Institute Report on Amasa Holcomb's Reflecting Telescope.
Contributions from
The Museum of History and Technology:
Paper 26 Holcomb, Fitz, and Peate:
Three 19th-Century American Telescope Makers
| INTRODUCTION—Robert P. Multhauf | 156 | | I. | Amasa Holcomb—Autobiographical Sketch | 160 | | II. | Henry Fitz—Julia Fitz Howell | 164 | | III. | John Peate—F. W. Preston and William J. McGrath, Jr. | 171 |
HOLCOMB, FITZ, and PEATE:
Three 19th Century American Telescope Makers Practically all the telescopes used by amateur scientists in 18th-century America were of European origin. Our dependence upon foreign sources for these instruments continued well into the 19th century, and the beginning of telescope making in this country has conventionally been associated with the names of Alvan Clark and John Brashear, whose work dates from the 1860’s. Presented here are biographical sketches of two predecessors and a contemporary of Clark and Brashear whose obscurity is not deserved. The accounts relate some hitherto little-known aspects of telescope making in America as it progressed from mechanic art to science. The Author of the Introduction, Robert P. Multhauf, is head curator of the department of science and technology in the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
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