Editing Amateur telescope making (section)

==Beginnings==
Ever since [[Galileo Galilei]] adapted a Dutch invention for astronomical use, astronomical telescope making has been an evolving discipline. Many astronomers after the time of Galileo built their own telescopes out of necessity, but the advent of amateurs in the field building telescopes for their own enjoyment and education seems to have come into prominence in the 20th century.

Before the advent of modern mass-produced telescopes, the price of even a modest instrument was often beyond the means of an aspiring amateur astronomer. Building your own was the only economical method to obtain a suitable telescope for observing. Many published works piqued interest in building telescopes, such as the 1920 book ''The Amateur's Telescope'' by Irish telescope maker Rev. [[Frederick William Archdall Ellison|W. F. A. Ellison]].

In the United States in the early 1920s, articles in ''[[Popular Astronomy (US magazine)|Popular Astronomy]]'' by [[Russell W. Porter]] and in ''[[Scientific American]]'' by [[Albert Graham Ingalls|Albert G. Ingalls]] featuring Porter and the ''Springfield Telescope Makers''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stellafane.org/history/early/brieft-history.html |website=stellafane.org |title=A Brief History of Stellafane by Bert Willard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613085526/http://stellafane.org/history/early/brieft-history.html |archive-date=2010-06-13}}</ref> helped expand interest in the hobby. There was so much public interest, Ingalls began a regular column for ''Scientific American'' on the subject (spawning that publications "[[The Amateur Scientist]]" column) and later compiled into three books titled ''[[Amateur Telescope Making]]'' Vol. 1–3. These had a large readership of enthusiast (sometimes called "telescope nuts"<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sinnott |first=Roger W. |date=March 1990 |title=Robert E. Cox, T. N. |journal=[[Sky & Telescope]] |volume=79 |pages=332–33}} term coined by [[Albert Graham Ingalls|Albert Ingalls]], according to ''[[Sky & Telescope]]'' editor [[Roger W. Sinnott]]</ref>) constructing their own instruments. Between 1933 and 1990, ''[[Sky & Telescope]]'' magazine ran a regular column called "Gleanings for ATMs" edited by Earle Brown, [[Robert E. Cox]], and Roger Sinnott. The ready supply of surplus optical components after World War II and later [[Sputnik crisis|Sputnik]] and the [[Space Race]] also greatly expanded the hobby.