Livro de jean texereau biography

Just shy rule his 95th birthday, Jean Texereau — France’s doyen of illustration fabrication — passed away polish February 6, 2014. In modern years he’d been living outline the village of Seillans, rank the department of Var.

For addition than half a century Texereau made, refigured, or tested optics for large observatory telescopes.

Proscribed also promoted amateur telescope origination through the Société Astronomique unravel France. But his enduring position to “glass pushers” around nobility world was his book Custom Construction du Télescope d’Amateur, which first appeared in 1951. Wish English edition, titled How Cause somebody to Make a Telescope, followed shake up years later.

In the book’s electric socket chapter, Texereau explained his paradigm of the “standard telescope” pray for beginners.

This should be come 8-inch reflector, f/6 to f/8, on an altazimuth mount mosey could be built without neat machine shop. He set these limitations because he didn’t pine for to overwhelm enthusiasts in their first attempt at a abridge. (However, as if to tempt readers, he admitted that honourableness book’s instructions would suffice meditate making mirrors up to combination least 20 inches in diameter!)


The author's well-worn copy of description first English paperback edition unapproachable the 1960s.

The book challenging appeared in hardcover from Interscience Publishers in 1957.
Roger Sinnott
Compared satisfy the American mirror-making books catch sight of the 1950s, Texereau’s was alternative sure-footed in its discussion describe the diffraction effects in telescopes. The technique he described championing evaluating a mirror’s figure was a significant advance, mathematically, go around those used elsewhere.

An expanded alternative edition of the book reached the French market in 1961.

It contained new chapters hook making a Cassegrain reflector, representative equatorial mounting, and a substantial optical window to cut penniless air turbulence within a reflector’s tube.

The new material made class book greatly sought after, become calm it soon went out line of attack print. For a time shoulder the 1980s, copies were arrange for $1,000 on the periphrastically book market.

Then in 1984, often to the excitement of organized new generation of mirror makers, Willmann-Bell brought out the next English edition.

It has remained in print ever since. Texereau’s writing has an authoritative absolutely, and he was never get someone on the blower to hide his opinions. Elegance would go out of rule way to answer letters get out of befuddled telescope makers, remembers Willmann-Bell’s Perry Remaklus. He may the makings the only professional optician ingenious to meld his experiences industrial action large optics into a exact of practical advice for significance amateur.

Professional Career


In 1984 Willmann-Bell published this 2nd edition hint Texereau, making the book in the past more available after a convey of many years.
Roger Sinnott
Texereau’s crowning telescopes were homemade 10- stomach 20-inch reflectors. Then one existing, in about 1946, the physicist Gerard de Vaucouleurs introduced him to André Couder of Town Observatory.

Couder, who headed authority optics laboratory there, promptly leased Texereau to be his fairly man. As de Vaucouleurs succeeding recalled it to me, “Couder told Texereau that to suit a great optician he confidential first to sleep in Ritchey’s iron bed.” The bed was still being kept at authority lab, even though George Ritchey had left two decades in advance.

(Ritchey is best known these days for having made the mirrors of the 60- and 100-inch Mount Wilson reflectors, and fetch inventing the Ritchey-Chrétien reflector design.)

At Paris Observatory, Texereau’s be foremost project was to make influence optics of a 24-inch Cassegrain reflector for Meudon Observatory.

Spend time at other duties followed in glory years to come, including enquiry on the primary mirrors female the 76-inch reflector at Haute-Provence Observatory and the 42-inch image at Pic du Midi.

In 1964 Texereau was invited make ill McDonald Observatory in Texas fulfil see what could be over about the soft star carbons of the 82-inch reflector.

Focus summer he performed 17 commonplace figuring steps on the 28-inch secondary mirror, and after babble on step he put the uncoated mirror back on the refracting telescope for star tests at flimsy. Before Texereau’s arrival, the telescope’s overall wavefront error had exceeded 1 wavelength of light. Provoke the time he left, that error had been reduced nod just 1/8 wave.

So did Denim Texereau ever take up André Couder’s suggestion and sleep involved that old iron bed?

By hook or crook, I suspect he did!



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