Beyond the Blueprint: Creating a Galaxy - Post 2

Shakers and Telescopes

I once had the opportunity to visit a Shaker community. I was shocked to discover that the Shakers were truly a cutting edge group of people. The Shakers were prolific with inventions, technology and patents. Shakers had more patents and inventions than any other people hands down. Every time they did anything that had moments where everyone would sit in a circle, examine the new invention (we are talking everything from seed packets to washing machines and brooms) . One question prevailed. How can we make it better? Everyone had a say. We are still using some of their inventions to this day.

What does this have to do with telescope building? I sat in on an online meeting at Analog Sky. The president of the company was presenting new idea called the “Bloom Telescope”. I had not idea what it was and was clearly out of my league. It did not matter. Participants from all over the world listened patiently and asked questions and provided answers. It was encouraging problem solving for a small company that was trying to do and build something new that had never been built. It was hopeful and exciting. It was science in action bringing people together to solve problems and deal with challenges in a supportive way.

My goal is to recreate the same environment and experience by building the telescope “Ember”. I plan on taking a journey with students. We will be learning and building together. I will keep you posted….