made in Dublin

Telescope micrometer

Micrometers are used by astronomical observers to measure angular separations between stars seen through their optical telescopes. This example was made in the workshop of Grubb of Dublin, an internationally famous manufacturer of telescopes, and once belonged to the Paisley Astronomical Society, where it was attached to their 10-inch refractor. The Society was amalgamated with another during the 1970s.

This instrument was attached to the eyepiece of a telescope in order to measure stellar distances. It was made by the workshop of Dublin-based Howard Grubb, whose factory supplied worldwide some 90 first-class telescopes ranging in diameter from five to 28 inches, between 1890 and 1914.

Howard Grubb (1844-1931) was the son of Thomas Grubb, who had established a successful business in Dublin manufacturing scientific instruments. Howard Grubb's reputation rested upon his design and construction of astronomical telescopes and observatory fittings on an international scale.

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Online ID:	000-180-001-224-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2 Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland
Date:	Around 1880
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References:	For the development of the micrometer, see Randall Brooks, 'Micrometer' in R. Bud and D.J. Warner (eds.), Instruments of Science: an Historical Encyclopedia (New York and London, 1998), pp 380-2. For the Grubbs and their instruments, see J.E. Burnett and A.D. Morrison-Low, Vulgar & Mechanick: the Scientific Instrument Trade in Ireland 1650-1921 (Edinburgh and Dublin, 1989), pp 89-117. Also, Ian Glass, Victorian Telescope Makers (Bristol, 1997). Listed in C. Mollan, Irish National Inventory of Historic Scientific Instruments (Dublin, 1995), item EX0045
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