Experimentation and Innovation: Building the Hale Telescope
Overview
The primary sources in this project, drawn from the collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center, include correspondence and diagrams that document the process of fabricating what became a 200-inch Pyrex telescope mirror. These sources can be used to strengthen critical reading skills, to support inquiry-based learning exercises, and to expose students to the stories of trial and error that lie behind most scientific or engineering breakthroughs. Students are encouraged to annotate in the margins in order to support the development of document analysis and critical thinking skills. This project contains a suggested exercise that builds on the themes of the primary source documents.
Primary Source Project
The 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California was, in many respects, an ambitious dream, as no manufacturer had successfully fabricated a mirror 200-inches in diameter at that time. The process of making the mirror, however, was lengthy, expensive, and required a lot of experimentation.
The primary sources in this project, drawn from the collections at the Rockefeller Archive Center, include correspondence and diagrams that document the process of fabricating what became a 200-inch Pyrex telescope mirror. These sources can be used to strengthen critical reading skills, to support inquiry-based learning exercises, and to expose students to the stories of trial and error that lie behind most scientific or engineering breakthroughs. Students are encouraged to annotate in the margins in order to support the development of document analysis and critical thinking skills. This project contains a suggested exercise that builds on the themes of the primary source documents.