Synopses & Reviews
This book will both arouse your curiosity and answer your questions. Why are there so many different kinds of telescopes? What does each type have to offer? What makes one telescope better than another? Which are best? Why? What are the tradeoffs? As a telescope buyer, you will be better informed; as a telescope maker, you will be able to design custom optics.
Many readers will find the analyses of existing designs the most valuable part of the book. Newtonians, Cassegrains, Maksutovs, Schmidt cameras and more are described and analyzed so that you can easily compare them. What's your dream telescope? This book will help you choose it.
Others will make use of the power they now have to check, test, and analyze new telescope designs. The design and raytrace programs available as an option to this book will give you the tools you need to begin with a basic design and work systematically until you have created an optimized optical system that meets your personal design criteria. You'll be able to try new types of glass, design a telescope around that corrector shell you have parked in the basement, even compare the performance of many different eyepieces on your telescope.
Review
"The great merit of the book is in the large number of ray trace spot diagrams shown for the specific designs covered, which allow quick comparison of their performance with regard to field of view, focal ratio, and tube length. Complete optical prescriptions for each design are included. In addition, the book offers the professional designer, who may not have been exposed to the concerns of amateur astronomers, the opportunity to round out his experience. There is a marvelous diagram, the Telescope Design Tree, which displays the genealogy of the multitude of design types in a clear, efficient manner and updates the old adage about pictures worth a kiloword. It is remarkable that once again amateurs have contributed so greatly to fill a gap left by the professionals." Optics & Photonics News
Review
"This is a comprehensive manual for amateur astronomers. It describes the optical performance of most of the types of telescope bought (or built) and used by amateurs, and explains why some are suitable for visual observations, and others for photography, some for lunar and planetary work, others for faint and extended nebulae or star clusters. To facilitate comparisons, spot diagrams have been computed for all the telescopes described, and nearly all of them for a standard aperture of 200mm...The chapter on eyepieces is particularly informative...recommended for advanced amateurs..." Journal of the British Astronomical Society
Review
"Anyone who wants to know more than just how to use a telescope can learn some optics from this book by two Dutch amateur astronomers, turned optical designers. Youll acquire a good understanding of the performance possible with the various types of telescopes and have a chance to try your hand as an optical designer.
"Telescope Optics provides a comprehensive analysis of practically any type of telescope an amateur would use for visual observation or photography. Coverage of the many types of catadioptric systems is outstanding. Taken in total, it is an optical design book, but written in such a way that amateur astronomers will find it of value whatever their level of interest, and the person seriously interested in design will find it a godsend. I recommend it highly for any serious amateur and for the professional who is going to work in these areas." Sky & Telescope Magazine