44 replies to this topic

[Oregon-raybender]

I am happy to report the old Sam Brown book "All About Telescopes" and other Edmund books

are now available on line with free down load (PDF)

It was a project 20 years in the making. The series of old Edmund books on telescopes and optics

are now available to the world. I worked with the Edmund Marketing Department this past year.

I asked about having these books on their web site as open access. Anchor Optics (no longer in use)

had posted a few. But the ones that were really needed are, "All About Telescopes" and "the Optical Bench".


Great books, simple drawings and packed with info on how to telescopes and simple high

school math. I just scanned them this fall to make them available.

They were just posted today free to download.



Look at the bottom of the link. Great use for telescope makers (or would be) or TM classes.
See the list below



Enjoy, pass it on to those who are interested. 



Starry Nights




https://www.edmundop...cal-literature/


https://www.edmundop...elescopes 2.pdf


https://www.edmundop...ical Bench.pdf



Archive - Edmund Scientific Literature 
All About Telescopes  12/28/2022
The Optical Bench  12/28/2022
Goodwin Achromatic Barlow  3/16/2022
How to Build Optical Drawing Devices  3/16/2022
Reticles and their Uses  3/16/2022
How to Condense and Project Light  3/16/2022
Ronchi Rulings and their Uses  3/16/2022
Fun with Fresnell Lenses  3/16/2022
How to Build Opaque Projectors  3/16/2022
Magnifiers  3/16/2022
Telescope Finders  3/16/2022
Collimators & Collimation  12/29/2022
Collimating Systems  3/16/2022
Graphical Ray Tracing  3/16/2022
Ultra-Close Up Photography



https://www.linkedin...19063501783040)

Edited by Oregon-raybender, 29 December 2022 - 06:34 PM.

[Starsareus]

Thanks ! While I purchased these at their Retail Store decades ago, its nice to have a Digital backup.  Part of the "Good Ol Days in Barrington.

[desert_sage]

Thank you, read these years ago and wished I had a copy!

 

I could not download the Optical Bench directly from the link above, but going to the web site and drilling down to to their technical documentation page I found this (working) link:

 

https://www.edmundop...tical Bench.pdf

[BFaucett]

Thank you, read these years ago and wished I had a copy!

 

I could not download the Optical Bench directly from the link above, but going to the web site and drilling down to to their technical documentation page I found this (working) link:

 

https://www.edmundop...tical Bench.pdf

 

Yeah, in the original post, there were a few extraneous (and not normally visible) characters at the end of the posted URL that caused the link to not work properly. 

The link as originally posted:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/ViewDocument/the%20Optical%20Bench.pdf%E2%80%A8
 
Working link:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/ViewDocument/the%20Optical%20Bench.pdf

It happens occasionally when pasting a link into a post.

 

Cheers! Bob F. 

[BrentKnight]

Yeah, in the original post, there were a few extraneous (and not normally visible) characters at the end of the posted URL that caused the link to not work properly. 

The link as originally posted:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/ViewDocument/the%20Optical%20Bench.pdf%E2%80%A8
 
Working link:
https://www.edmundoptics.com/ViewDocument/the%20Optical%20Bench.pdf

It happens occasionally when pasting a link into a post.

 

Cheers! Bob F. 

Thanks Bob!

[Oregon-raybender]

Thanks for the feedback on the down loading. I tested on my devices first to make sure no issues. I tested each link on

my iMac. iPad, XP and Win7 had no issues. But A few people still had issues on various web connections . Sorry about that.

 

The Page link I think works the best. Look at the bottom to find the book(s) of interest.

 

Starry Nights

 

https://www.edmundop...cal-literature/

[desert_sage]

Yup, not upset, these things happen.  

 

The interaction of things on the web is far beyond any humans comprehension at this point. One does one’s best, followed with a bit of due diligence, then you just have to let it go…

Edited by desert_sage, 31 December 2022 - 08:02 PM.

[geovermont]

This is a great service to our community. It will be a great help to many ATMs. Thanks to the Original Poster and Edmund for doing this!

[Oregon-raybender]

These books were just posted on their web site.

 

Starry Nights

 

https://www.edmundop...g5StarAtlas.pdf

 

https://www.edmundop...undSkyGuide.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

Edited by Oregon-raybender, 14 January 2023 - 07:04 PM.

[geovermont]

Wonderful to have those two added in. The Sky Guide in particular looks helpful. I know neither one is up to date, but they could be quite helpful to a beginner. Our hobby is very expensive (or at least it can seem to be to a beginner who can't judge what they really need versus stuff that's nice to have) and that is a limitation for those who do not have a lot of disposable cash and these should be helpful. How do we help these be prominently "displayed" on this and other websites?

 

It's funny; although I've been an amateur astronomer at one level or another for decades, I've never seen either of these two before. I would have found the Sky Guide quite helpful in my earlier years. I certainly saw them listed in the Edmund catalog, and the prices were, as I recall, modest even by the standards of the time, but I guess I dismissed them as below me. Silly me.

[StupendousMan]

Thanks to all who have posted information on these books in this thread!

 

The Mag 5 Star Atlas is well matched to typical suburban skies.  It's the only atlas I keep out in the dome of our observatory in Rochester, NY, because it's relatively compact and shows everything we can see.  It's pretty old these days, though, so with the help of the information above, I'll print a second copy.

[WillR]

Great news! What fun!

[George N]

...... I would have found the Sky Guide quite helpful in my earlier years. I certainly saw them listed in the Edmund catalog, and the prices were, as I recall, modest even by the standards of the time, but I guess I dismissed them as below me. Silly me.

I wonder how difficult it would be to get co-author Dickinson to re-write/up-date Sky Guide into the modern era?

[BrentKnight]

I wonder how difficult it would be to get co-author Dickinson to re-write/up-date Sky Guide into the modern era?

I dunno.  I had never heard of Sky Guide until this post.  I think what makes it unique and interesting is the vintage quality it has.  Updating it would make it a completely different thing...

[geovermont]

I dunno.  I had never heard of Sky Guide until this post.  I think what makes it unique and interesting is the vintage quality it has.  Updating it would make it a completely different thing..

I agree. I'll bet that if someone started re-writing this there would be too much to change. As it stands, it looks like the Sky Guide would answer a lot of beginner questions and get someone started. And someone above mentioned keeping a copy of the Atlas handy in their observatory--a good idea. It's not going to replace my S&T Jumbo Pocket Sky Atlas, but it would be a nice ready reference. I can print a copy for a really nominal price and just leave it out there.

[Oregon-raybender]

My goal was just to scan the older copies and not re-write, since the authors are

not around. That is way I copied the second edition, it was updated by the author and

removed outdated info.

 

Thanks for the inputs. Edmund was very happy to hear this has been received well,

looking into other books. They do now and then have throw days on LinkedIn, old

covers of catalogs and such.

 

Starry Nights

[therealdmt]

My goal was just to scan the older copies and not re-write, since the authors are

not around. That is way I copied the second edition, it was updated by the author and

removed outdated info.

 

Thanks for the inputs. Edmund was very happy to hear this has been received well,

looking into other books. They do now and then have throw days on LinkedIn, old

covers of catalogs and such.

 

Starry Nights

Thank you for your efforts. ‘All About Telescopes’ was a heck of a resource back in the day, and I see from browsing through the PDF file thereof that you helped get put up on Edmund’s website, that it still has all sorts of useful info that would benefit me to work through.

 

If you’re taking requests, I’d be interested in ‘Time In Astronomy’ (#9054, I think), a book that quickly defeated me the first time around (back when I was around 8 or 9). ‘Fun With Optics’ seems like it could be interesting, too, though I don’t recall it specifically

[Oregon-raybender]

I think "Time in Astronomy" is covered in "All About Telescopes"  I had a copy of

"Fun with Optics"  but for some reason it's not on book shelf. 

 

Check the updated list of books

 

Starry Nights

[Steve Cox]

👍 All About Telescopes is a really good book covering the fundamentals and basics of equipment and observing. Glad to see these books resurrected.

[Alvan Clark]

They also had a magnitude 6 atlas.

[Oregon-raybender]

I am just aware of the Mag 5 atlas as noted in #9

 

Starry Nights

[therealdmt]

I think "Time in Astronomy" is covered in "All About Telescopes"  I had a copy of

"Fun with Optics"  but for some reason it's not on book shelf. 

 

Check the updated list of books

 

Starry Nights

There is definitely overlap with ‘All About Telescopes’, but I believe (iirc; I could be wrong) that the 18 page ‘Time In Astronomy’ booklet covered the topic more extensively and in more detail.
I’ve seen ‘Time In Astronomy’ labeled as both of booklet #9054 and booklet #08007, not sure how Edmund’s numbers worked, but maybe they were two different printings. Anyway, it’s not super important to me, just something I’ve thought about a few times over the years.

 

They also had a magnitude 6 atlas.

I am just aware of the Mag 5 atlas as noted in #9

 

Starry Nights

Edmund’s ‘Mag 6 Star Atlas’ (text by Terence Dickinson, charts and illustrations by Victor Costanzo and "selected objects" lists by Glenn F. Chaple) was published later. I know it was available in the 80s, though I’m not sure when it first came out. It was booklet #9611, and it was 66 pages in length; star charts were Epoch 1950

[bbanicki]

can i get these printed at printer like LULU for my personal use?  Preferer paper format....

[Steve Cox]

They're downloadable pdf files, you should be able to take the file to any printer/office supply and have it printed and bound to your desire.

[Oregon-raybender]

The books are in PDF and can be printed on your printer or taken to print / office shop

I suggest down load the books on a stick. I keep them on my computer, but also

available when I travel, if people want copies. Old tech like CD works too.

 

Let us know how they are being used in clubs, TM classes or STEM programs.

 

Starry Nights