Talk:List of astronomical instrument makers

message: While Ibn al-Haytham is noteworthy for his work in astronomy, what astronomical instrument is he credited with?   Specifically, what instrument did he employ for observing or modeling astronomic bodies?Mavigogun (talk) 05:12, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I have RM'ed his entry since he is an optician and is not cited as having invented any astronomical instruments. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 21:08, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Ibn al-Haytham: What instrument?

message: What is the scope of this list? It seems to list many pre - telescope citations so I assume we are talking about Astrolabes, etc as well as optical telescopes (and we seem to have some clock makers listed). Almost every astronomer could be said to have made his own instrument...(in which case this would become List of astronomers...already exists). John Dobson (astronomer) made telescopes but so did several thousand other Amateur telescope makers. Maybe this should be changed to List of astronomical instrument inventors and the list weeded out to just referenced examples. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 21:53, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I would assume "List of astronomical instrument makers" could include pre-telescope aids, and even astronomical clocks.  Most modern astronomers don't make their own instruments, apart from interest in amateur telescope making; can you imagine if astronomers had to make their own Hubble Space Telescope or Palomar Observatory before doing anything?  And while many amateur astronomers make their own telescopes nowadays, most of them who do follow John Dobson's plans for doing so; certainly it's notable for an amateur telescope maker to have entire telescope catalog sections named after him!  Perhaps a list of notable astronomical instrument makers isn't interesting enough for its own article, but I don't think the examples cited make the case. Licquia (talk) 02:04, 18 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It still begs the question, what is this a list of? Quite a few modern astronomers make their own instruments, as well as a what may be the majority of pre-19th century astronomers. Again we have an undefined scope here since "instrument" can be anything from clocks to Dividing engines to  Filar micrometers. And if John Dobson did invent something, he is an "inventor", not a "maker". Amateur telescope makers are astronomical instrument makers and allot of them are either unique designs or their makers are notable. This list needs a definition that fits notability like "inventor". Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 07:27, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Surely the test is notability. If the individual is notable enough to have a Wikipedia entry and there astronomical instrument making was sufficient to be of note, then they qualify. This is why I have added James Watt who I was surprised to see not on the list. Stub Mandrel (talk) 18:55, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Its an old question and, after puzzling through many list such as this over the years, I have to say your right. Notability means the entry has a Wikipedia article and the article mentions the person worked on astronomical instruments. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 19:30, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Disputed - what is this a list of?