Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Ronald Florence, author of The Perfect Machine. It was Ronald's first return to Palomar in more than a decade. We spent a few hours poking around domes and going over what is new and old around here.
His book is a complete history of the building of the Hale Telescope and the Palomar Observatory. As a tour guide and trainer of tour guides at the observatory I have worked hard to transfer much of the knowledge contained within its pages into my head and into the heads of others. Tour groups work their way through the dome as our visitors hear a distillation of the facts and figures, blended with the stories from The Perfect Machine. When it comes to the Hale Telescope its science awes and its history grounds.
Without his wonderful book my job would be enormously more difficult and I am indebted to Mr. Florence.
Thank you.
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