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| The 400th Birthday of the Telescope |
| Ken Launie |
| Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 at 8:00 PM |
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| In October 1608, Middelburg spectacle maker Hans Lipperhey, carrying a letter of introduction and a telescope travelled to The Hague, in order to present it at the States-General Council, and claim a patent. Within a few weeks, they were readily available at markets all over Europe, and Galileo turned one skyward, helping to start our hobby, and inadvertently getting its optical design named after him. How did the telescope spread so quickly once discovered? There is some interesting current research that offers a plausible explanation. Ken will talk about the history of the telescope and the recent conferences celebrating the 400th anniversary he attended in Holland, and show images from associated special telescope exhibitions, as well as Leiden and Lisbon observatories.
This month’s guest speaker is Ken Launie a long time, active member of the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston. He joined in January 1971 while still in high school. Over the years he filled various positions in the club including President from 1981-83, Shop Chairman (which later evolved into the Clubhouse Committee) from 1975-90, and Secretary from 1986-1990. Ken is one of the founding members of the Antique Telescope Society, and current is currently President of the organization, which has about 275 members from 14 countries. He is a refractor telescope enthusiast with a particular interest in local makers of the 19th century such as Alvan Clark, RB Tolles and John Clacey, but living in Cambridge, Ken’s "deep sky" observing is looking at Neptune. Ken is an engineer who spent 28 years designing cameras for Polaroid. He now designs inkless digital printers for Zink Imaging, a startup spun off from Polaroid.
Please join us for a pre-meeting dinner discussion at Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA at 6:00pm before the meeting. |
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