An Unpublished Letter from Albert Ingalls

Anna Hillier

In 1928, Albert Ingalls began "The Back Yard Astronomer" column for Scientific American magzine. The column became immensely popular and eventually led to a set of three books devoted to amateur telescope making. Eventually Ingalls expanded the coverage of the column, which he renamed "The Amateur Scientist." Here Anna Hillier describes an interesting letter from Ingalls to an amateur telescope maker. Editor.

An archive can be as simple as a box of papers that an organization has deemed to be important. I was given several boxes which had been handed down from one estate to another. If the papers are sufficiently ancient and worthy, then the task ahead is cataloging or organizing them under the motto "Share it or lose it."

Technology has finally become available for sharing, and a letter from Scientific American's Albert Ingalls is certainly worthy of sharing. The letter is addressed to the first president of The Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston, and it shows an interesting aspect of Albert Ingalls' personality. The letter is presented below: