3 Replies to “The Markle Telescope (Andrea Rizzo)”
Andrea,
I love how you decided to do more research on the Markle Telescope! I thought it was so cool when we went to see it, and I really enjoyed hearing more information and research that has been done on it. You did a wonderful job connecting your topic with concepts we covered in class such as patronage, human values, and context. One thing I found very interesting was that there are two kinds of telescopes even today: the reflector and refractor. I am surprised that neither has become more popular be being socio-technologically superior. I really like how you showed that religion was an important factor in the development of this technology and how the telescope exhibited religious values such as how nature and astronomy were believed to the greatness of God. It is interesting how astronomy is no longer as prevalent in our society today, even though there is still so much unknown in outer space. For example, there is no longer an observatory here or even an Astronomy major at Lafayette College. Your slidecast was very interesting. You did a wonderful job!
Really interesting piece on the Markle Telescope. I think you do a fantastic job of plotting the development of the telescope, dating back to Galileo. It contextualizes the societal values that were incorporated in its innovation across centuries, particularly religion. You also do a phenomenal job at tying in other class concepts such as invention being the mother of necessity and noting and identifying the patrons involved. Something that I was particularly interested in was the manufacturer of the Markle telescope, and in particular why the Warner & Swasey Co was located in Cleveland; does the geographic location tell us anything about how the technology developed? As you moved onto a campus scale, I liked how you talked about how societal attitudes were reflected on campus in the 20th century and then how you bring that to Lafayette’s liberal arts education today. It might have been interesting if you dove into this a little bit more in terms of what it means to have a liberal arts education in todays society; something that comes to mind is making the distinction between interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, and what that means in a societal context. Overall, great presentation; I really enjoyed it!
I’m sure this was a very challenging topic, as you mentioned that there was not a lot of information about the Markle telescope available, but I think you did a good job of what you had. Your arguments and reasoning were easy to follow and your emphasis on the connection between religion and astronomy throughout the years seemed to be very appropriate. If you had more than 6:40 for your slidecast, I think you could have also made the connection to John Harrison’s clock and that entire astronomy vs. mechanical science debate. I found it so fascinating that Lafayette used to have an observatory and astronomy program. It would be interesting to try and find out what cultural changes promoted the demolition of the building and absorption of astronomy by the Physics department. Additionally, what was the timeframe of these events at Lafayette? Overall nice job!
Andrea,
I love how you decided to do more research on the Markle Telescope! I thought it was so cool when we went to see it, and I really enjoyed hearing more information and research that has been done on it. You did a wonderful job connecting your topic with concepts we covered in class such as patronage, human values, and context. One thing I found very interesting was that there are two kinds of telescopes even today: the reflector and refractor. I am surprised that neither has become more popular be being socio-technologically superior. I really like how you showed that religion was an important factor in the development of this technology and how the telescope exhibited religious values such as how nature and astronomy were believed to the greatness of God. It is interesting how astronomy is no longer as prevalent in our society today, even though there is still so much unknown in outer space. For example, there is no longer an observatory here or even an Astronomy major at Lafayette College. Your slidecast was very interesting. You did a wonderful job!
Andrea,
Really interesting piece on the Markle Telescope. I think you do a fantastic job of plotting the development of the telescope, dating back to Galileo. It contextualizes the societal values that were incorporated in its innovation across centuries, particularly religion. You also do a phenomenal job at tying in other class concepts such as invention being the mother of necessity and noting and identifying the patrons involved. Something that I was particularly interested in was the manufacturer of the Markle telescope, and in particular why the Warner & Swasey Co was located in Cleveland; does the geographic location tell us anything about how the technology developed? As you moved onto a campus scale, I liked how you talked about how societal attitudes were reflected on campus in the 20th century and then how you bring that to Lafayette’s liberal arts education today. It might have been interesting if you dove into this a little bit more in terms of what it means to have a liberal arts education in todays society; something that comes to mind is making the distinction between interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, and what that means in a societal context. Overall, great presentation; I really enjoyed it!
Really interesting slide cast Andrea!
I’m sure this was a very challenging topic, as you mentioned that there was not a lot of information about the Markle telescope available, but I think you did a good job of what you had. Your arguments and reasoning were easy to follow and your emphasis on the connection between religion and astronomy throughout the years seemed to be very appropriate. If you had more than 6:40 for your slidecast, I think you could have also made the connection to John Harrison’s clock and that entire astronomy vs. mechanical science debate. I found it so fascinating that Lafayette used to have an observatory and astronomy program. It would be interesting to try and find out what cultural changes promoted the demolition of the building and absorption of astronomy by the Physics department. Additionally, what was the timeframe of these events at Lafayette? Overall nice job!
-Olivia