"Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the home of A. R. Everest, the discoverer of H. C. F., is now permanently on the astronomical map -its first observatory has been formally dedicated. The builder was Guglielmo Camilli, a General Electric Company engineer who entertained 30 of his fellow star gazers at a dedication dinner prepared in true Italian style. In honor of the great Florentine physicist Galileo Galilei, who was the first to apply the principle of the telescope to astronomy, in 1609, the observatory was christened The Galileo Observatory.

"Patterned after its conventional big brothers, with revolving dome and electrically operated 'scope, the observatory is scientifically constructed throughout. The building is 12 feet in diameter, with reinforced concrete walls six feet high. The concrete pier on which the telescope is mounted extends four feet into the ground and insures absolute rigidity. A series of rollers and guides is embedded in the top of the concrete wall and supports a channel iron bent in the form of a perfect circle. Supported by semi-circular cross members, the galvanized iron dome is built of 45 segments, all accurately cut to size and punched for rivets in advance. Nearly 3000 rivets and 50 pounds of solder hold the dome together and make it water-tight.

"The 'scope is an eight-inch reflector with a mirror by Everest, and is electrically operated by means of a Telechron clock mechanism. The axes can also be adjusted by hand wheels. All the machine work and scale graduations are of the greatest accuracy.

"The only cost was for materials, as enthusiastic fellow astronomers helped Mr. Camilli from start to finish of the project. All trades, from wood choppers who cut 300 trees, to electrical engineers and professional mathematicians were represented. To place the observatory in operation it was necessary to extend a transmission line through a swamp a quarter of a mile to the isolated knoll on which it is built. Electricity therefore lights and heats the building (when work is to be done in cold weather and no observations are scheduled). Resistance wire around the sliding door in the dome, but insulated from it, can be used to thaw it loose in cold weather in case of ice or snow accumulations. The grounds outside have not been neglected, rose bushes and other shrubs being planted on the carefully leveled terraces around the building."It sounds like business doesn't it!

ONE lady who evidently thinks telescope making is more fun than embroidering is Miss Wandalee Nickell, 716 North Isabel Street, Glendale, California. Here is what she wrote to us recently. Read it, show it to your mother, wife, daughter, girl friend, or what have you, and proceed to introduce her to the sacred rites of glass grinding.

"I had my first view through a telescope two years ago, at the moon," says Miss Nickell. "The moon has been the cause of many events in life, but it gave to me that evening a most compelling urge to possess a telescope of my own, in order to study its beauty whenever I desired. I was 17 at that time and felt rather helpless, knowing I could not buy one. But something inside would not let me put the desire aside.

"I was studying astronomy in high school and my instructor told me of your column, 'The Amateur Astronomer,' in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Until then I was unacquainted with the magazine but I have never missed a copy since. In the first copy that I turned to I found information which spurred me on-it was a picture of Mr. A. B. Stephens grinding a mirror in Burma, China. He was returning to this country, so I immediately got in touch with him. He is the nephew of the beloved optician, the late Dr. John A. Brashear. Was it a kind hand which guided me to him? I think so, as he proved to be my sole inspirer and I surely needed plenty of encouragement at the time, as my age, sex, and lack of optical knowledge were all against me. He had me obtain 'Amateur Telescope Making,' which was, I assure you, all Greek at first. But with plenty of hard studying on my part and patience on the part of a kind physics teacher under whom I was studying, I soon was able to get under way with my six- inch mirror. I shall never forget the inner thrill I experienced when knowledge was dawning upon me while I ground away hour after hour with success always in front of me-I never once thought of having failure.

"As my mirror progressed I was worrying about the mounting. I had conquered optics to a certain extent, but mechanics were and still are a mystery to me. I owe a great deal to my father and other friends who helped me so wonderfully in getting it constructed.

"As I went along I learned by making mistakes. My first one was not fine grinding long enough with my last grade of Carborundum, so I had to polish for 30 hours to get the polish complete. I had the usual turned-down edge, but did not encounter any real difficulty in parabolizing. My mirror has a very excellent figure. The focal length is 37-1/4 inches. I can use up to 300 power with good definition. In the picture you will notice that I have a finder on the telescope. I am proud to say I also ground and polished the lenses for this, and have made two eyepieces to date. I worked on the instrument over a period of ten months, and the cost was approximately 75 dollars.

"I have used my telescope now for a considerable time and cannot begin to relate all the happy hours it has given, not only to me but to hundreds of others. I want to say here that 'Amateur Telescope Making' was the life saver and giver of many hours of beauty to be spent with the heavenly bodies. I hope this story will spur other girls on into the beautiful field of telescope making. There is no reason why it should be limited to men. If one girl can make one, hundreds of others can."

So far as we know, Miss Nickell is the fourth woman who has qualified as a telescope maker and we wish there were more. Women often get the notion, based on a preconception, that they cannot do any kind of mechanical work simply because they are women. Yet take needlework- is it not mechanical work? Some of it, embroidery for example, is too refined for the average mere man. Men make good tailors, and even your scribe can sew on a button-with a six-inch upholstery needle So there is no "man's" or "woman's" work. Ladies, try a telescope.

The Society for Amateur Scientists (SAS) is a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to helping people enrich their lives by following their passion to take part in scientific adventures of all kinds.