or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime free trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn more
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Unusual Telescopes
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Unusual Telescopes [Paperback]

Peter L. Manly

RRP: £31.00
Price: £29.45 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £1.55 (5%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want guaranteed delivery by Monday, February 13? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --  
Paperback £29.45  
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details.

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Find Your Way Home--Bestselling Sat Navs

    Plan ahead and avoid traffic jams with one of our bestselling sat navs from top brands including TomTom and Garmin. We also stock a great range of up-to-date and fully-routable maps for your device, including popular destinations such as France, Portugal, North America and Scotland.

  • Interested in Astronomy? Explore the sky at night with our range of Telescopes by top brands such as Celestron, Bresser and Saxon.


Product details


More About the Author

Peter L. Manly
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Visit Amazon's Peter L. Manly Page

Product Description

Review

'Anyone interested in the limits of human endeavour will get much pleasure out of it.' New Scientist

'A mine of information on a huge range of unusual telescope optics, mounts and drives.' Astronomy and Space

' … the down-to-earth practical usefulness of the book will ensure its desirability … I would have no hesitation in recommending this book very widely to students and enthusiasts of economy-conscious or low-budget observational astronomy in general.' The Observatory

Product Description

Excellence in observation is crucial to astronomy. Optical designers, engineers and astronomers have tried all kinds of novel ways to improve telescope design, in the quest for better and more accurate telescopes. In this book, Peter L. Manly surveys more than 150 unusual telescope designs. They are all built by amateur and professional astronomers to suit some special need. This survey includes an inflatable telescope, and one with a liquid mirror. Every so often, a neglected design comes back into fashion: the largest telescopes now under construction use the alt-azimuth design that was ignored for over a century, and liquid mirror telescopes can be used for zenithal astronomy. The author shows why a particular engineering approach makes each telescope unique, and explains the rationale behind the design. The effects on telescope performance are also discussed where possible. This is not just a collection of weird and wonderful devices that proved to be false starts: the author includes the first instrument to measure star diameters, and the first useful radio telescope. This book is a resource and stimulus for anyone who likes to build astronomical telescopes.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Astronomical Association reports very good results with the mirror shown in Fig.1.1. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
5 star:    (0)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
Share your experience with this product with others
Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A necessity for telescope builders and fans, 17 Dec 1997
By edelman@geocities.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Unusual Telescopes (Hardcover)
A marvelous little book, and completely unique so far as I can tell. Manly's book is a tour of unusual telescopes. What's an unusual telescope? Well, I suppose it's something you just don't see discussed anywhere else. He discusses unusual mirror and lens materials- obsidian, aluminum foam, mylar, spun mercury and even heated air. Mounts get quite a bit of discussion, sorted by degrees of freedom. There are fixed telescopes, one axis telescopes, and on up to multi-axis sattelite tracking telescopes.

This is an expensive little book, but at the same time I think Manly has written a modern classic of the sort people will be consulting well into the next century. Not that this is a dry reference; it's a wonderfully entertaining tour of the world of the possible. I'm very glad I bought my copy.


7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting book on general telescope topics, 1 Feb 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Unusual Telescopes (Hardcover)
This book is NOT about telescope building or optical construction. It is a tour of the odd and unusual telescopes that have either been made or that have been proposed. It is an interesting text for the telescope fan but useless for someone wanting to purchase or construct their own telescope.
 Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars 
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback


Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges