I love this book. I am a telescope guy. I am not only obsessed with the night sky; I am also obsessed with telescopes.

This is a wonderful book. It was published in 1968 which means it only goes that far in terms of telescope development.

I wonder if anyone in the 60's even imagined that we would be sending telescopes into orbit and even into space!

This book looks at telescopes through history, how they developed and in particular the people who moved the telescope forward with development of types of telescopes and use of telescopes.

If you want a good look at the history of the telescope this book is for you.

Here is a list of the chapters (and the telescope makers)

• Hans Lippershey (First telescope)
• Galileo (First use of telescope on the night sky)
• Johannes Kepler (Astronomical Mathematics and improved refractor telescope)
• Isaac Newton (The reflecting telescope)
• William Herschel (Large reflector telescopes, Discovery of Uranus and catalog of the nght sky)
• Joseph Von Fraunhofer (Improvement to refractor telescopes and creation of the mechanical clockwork mount)
• Lord Rosse (Speculum Metal reflector telescopes of large size. Deeper understanding of Nebulae and discovery of spiral shape of galaxies)
• George Ellory Hale (Spectroheliograph, Pyrex mirrors; Enormous telescopes as a creation by organizations rather than individual endeavors. These telescope include a 30 inch refractor and a 200 inch reflector on Mount Palomar)
• Bernhard Schmidt (Schmidt telescope camera)
• Grote Reber (Radio telescope)
• Herbert Friedman (Rocket-borne telescopes and X-ray astronomy)