{"product_id":"alvan-clark-sons-artists-in-optics-9780943396460","title":"Alvan Clark \u0026 Sons, Artists in Optics","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlvan Clark \u0026amp; Sons, Artists in Optics\u003c\/strong\u003e by Warner, Deborah Jean. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780943396460.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlvan Clark \u0026amp; Sons was an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1846 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts by Alvan Clark (1804–1887, a descendant of Cape Cod whalers who started as a portrait painter), and his sons George Bassett Clark (1827–1891) and Alvan Graham Clark (1832–1897).[1] Five times, the firm built the largest refracting telescopes, Great refractors, in the world. The Clark firm gained \"worldwide fame and distribution\", wrote one author on astronomy in 1899.[1] The 18.5-inch (470 mm) Dearborn telescope (housed successively at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Adler Planetarium) was commissioned in 1856 by the University of Mississippi. The outbreak of civil war prevented them from ever taking ownership. As a result it was being tested in Cambridgeport when Alvan Graham observed Sirius B in 1862. In 1873 they built the 26-inch (660 mm) objective lens for the refractor at the United States Naval Observatory. In 1883, they build the 30-inch (760 mm) telescope for the Pulkovo Observatory in Russia, the 36-inch (910 mm) objective for the refractor at Lick Observatory was made in 1887, and the 40-inch (1,000 mm) lens for the Yerkes Observatory refractor, in 1897, only ever exceeded in size by the lens made for Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900. The company also built a number of smaller instruments, which are still highly prized among collectors and amateur astronomers. The companys assets were acquired by the Sprague-Hathaway Manufacturing Company in 1933, but continued to operate under the Clark name. In 1936, Sprague-Hathaway moved the Clark shop to a new location in West Somerville, Massachusetts, where manufacturing continued in association with the Perkin-Elmer Corporation, another maker of precision instruments. Most of Clarks equipment was disposed of as scrap during World War II.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986455031861,"sku":"ByrdShop_0943396468","price":156.72,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780943396460_9e1ac2d0-5e2c-4162-b462-1f4d532c60ad.jpg?v=1778651641","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/alvan-clark-sons-artists-in-optics-9780943396460","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}