Russell W. Porter facts for kids
Russell Williams Porter (born December 13, 1871 – died February 22, 1949) was an American artist, engineer, amateur astronomer, and Arctic explorer. He was a leader in creating "cutaway illustrations," which show the inside of things. He is also known as one of the main people who started the hobby of amateur telescope making.
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Biography
Russell W. Porter was the youngest of five children. He was born in 1871 in Springfield, Vermont. His parents were Frederick and Caroline Porter. Russell showed a talent for art from a young age.
He finished school at Vermont Academy in 1891. Then, he studied engineering at Norwich University and the University of Vermont. Later, he studied architecture and art at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Exploring the Arctic
Porter became interested in the arctic after hearing Robert Peary talk about Greenland in 1892. The next year, he joined a trip to Greenland on the ship Miranda as a surveyor and artist for Frederick Cook. This trip ended when the ship hit an iceberg. Inuit people rescued the crew.
Porter continued to travel to the Arctic. He went with Peary to Greenland again in 1896. He also visited Baffin Island in 1897, the Yukon gold rush area in 1898, Labrador in 1899, and northern Greenland in 1900.
From 1901 to 1903, Porter was in charge of watching the stars on the Ziegler Polar Expeditions. These trips were paid for by a businessman named William Ziegler. The second expedition got stuck in the Arctic for three years. Their ship, the Steam Yacht America, was crushed by ice and sank near Rudolf Island in Russia.
In 1906, Porter joined Frederick Cook again on a trip to Denali in Alaska. Porter's group mapped a 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km2) area around the mountain. He even painted a watercolor of the mountain. Cook's group tried to climb the mountain. When they met up, Porter had doubts about Cook's claims that he had reached the top.
Life in Port Clyde, Maine
After his adventures in the Arctic, Porter settled down in Port Clyde, Maine. He tried to start an art colony there but it didn't work out. He built houses to rent and tried farming.
In Port Clyde, he married Alice Marshall, who was the postmistress. Their daughter, Caroline, was born in 1912. Porter also started to enjoy astronomy and making telescopes. His friend James Hartness, who was also an amateur astronomer and telescope builder, encouraged him.
In 1913, Hartness sent Porter ideas and books about building telescopes. He also sent two 16-inch-wide glass pieces. Porter used these to build a 16-inch (410 mm) "polar reflector" telescope. He built it into the roof of a room he added to his house. This allowed him to watch the sky from inside, staying warm during the long Maine winters. Porter wrote an article about his design for Popular Astronomy magazine in May 1916.
Also in 1913, Porter and another man built a stone guesthouse. They used stones from old walls around Land's End. It looked like a castle, with a round room and a square tower. He called it Fieldstone Castle.
In 1915, Porter went back to MIT as a professor of architecture. During World War I, he worked for the National Bureau of Standards. There, he made prisms and experimented with how to put silver on mirrors.
Springfield and Stellafane
In 1919, Porter moved back to Springfield, Vermont. He worked at the Jones & Lamson Machine Company, where James Hartness was the president. Porter helped Hartness create an optical comparator. This tool could accurately check the details of screw threads, like their pitch and shape. He also designed a special telescope for gardens called The Porter Garden Telescope.
Springfield Telescope Makers
In August 1920, Porter started a class on how to make telescopes, with help from Hartness. Fifteen people joined the class. Most were men who worked at Jones & Lamson, and one was a school teacher.
Porter taught them how to make Newtonian reflector telescopes. He showed them how to make their own mirrors, including grinding, polishing, and testing them. He also taught them how to design and build telescope mounts.
On December 7, 1923, this small group decided to form an astronomy club called the Springfield Telescope Makers. Soon after, they built a clubhouse on a 30-acre (120,000 m2) piece of land that belonged to Porter on Breezy Hill. They named the clubhouse Stellafane, which means shrine to the stars in Latin.
In 1926, the Springfield Telescope Makers invited other groups of stargazers to their clubhouse. They wanted to compare telescopes and share ideas. This small meeting grew into an annual event called “Stellafane,” which still happens today.
In 1925, Albert Graham Ingalls wrote two articles about Porter and the Springfield Telescope Makers for Scientific American magazine. Porter provided many ideas and drawings for these articles. There was so much public interest that a regular column, "The Back Yard Astronomer" (later called The Amateur Scientist), was started by Ingalls. Porter was a contributing editor for this column.
Much of the information from these articles was put into books called Amateur Telescope Making (Volumes 1–3). These books are sometimes called "the bible of telescope making." They helped create a lasting interest in looking at the stars.
Working on the Hale Telescope
In 1927, George Ellery Hale asked Porter to help design what would be the largest telescope on Earth. This was the 200-inch (5,100 mm) Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory. Porter moved to Pasadena in December 1928 to work on the optics and instrument design.
While the telescope was being planned, Porter created very detailed cutaway drawings. These drawings were known for being very precise and beautiful. Porter's designs were very important for the success of this huge telescope, which was finished in 1948.
Russell W. Porter passed away in 1949 from a heart attack when he was 77 years old. Two craters are named in his honor: the crater Porter on the Moon and the crater Porter on Mars.
Images for kids
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"On October 15, Our Luminary dipped below the horizon in a glow of scarlet fire," painting by Russell W. Porter
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A telescope on display during a 1980s Stellafane Convention, with the "pink clubhouse" and Porter's Turret Telescope in the background
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The 200 inch Hale telescope at Mount Palomar
See also
In Spanish: Russell W. Porter para niños
