Editing Hobby (section)

== Significant achievements ==
There have been many instances where hobbyists and amateurs have achieved significant discoveries and developments. These are a small sample.
* Amateur astronomers have explored the skies for centuries and there is a long list of [[Amateur astronomy#Notable amateur astronomers|Notable amateur astronomers]] who have made major discoveries. Amateur astronomers [[Alan Hale (astronomer)|Alan Hale]] and [[Thomas Bopp]] discovered the [[Comet Hale–Bopp]] in 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Laboratory|first=Charli Schuler : Jet Propulsion|title=NASA – Spotlight: It's Amateur Night in Space|url=https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/watchtheskies/neo.html#:~:text=Amateur%20astronomers%20have%20been%20very,Alan%20Hale%20and%20Thomas%20Bopp.|access-date=2021-03-17|website=www.nasa.gov|language=en}}</ref>
* A substantial amount of early scientific research came from the amateur activities of the wealthy, such as [[Antoine Lavoisier]]'s contributions to the science of [[chemistry]] and [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s investigations into [[electricity]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/antoine-laurent-lavoisier|title=Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier |date=June 2016 |newspaper=Science History Institute |access-date=20 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Cohen |first=I. Bernard |year=1990 |title=Benjamin Franklin's Science |url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00iber |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0674066595 |author-link=I. Bernard Cohen}}</ref>
* [[Open-source model|Open source]] is a development model using open collaboration to cooperate on projects. It is most notable in the development of software and [[Open-source software#Key projects|widely used software]], which has been developed and maintained by large numbers of people, including many home-based amateurs with high-level expertise.
* While the general public was not aware of nature observation which was formally conducted as [[field research]], during the 1930s, practitioners of the hobby went on to become the [[wikt:pioneer|pioneers]] of the [[conservation movement]] that flourished in the UK from 1965 onwards.