I was surprised to read this:
The passage below is from a bio I found on Herschel.
"At the end of the Seven Years war, William Herschel came to live in England
and found work firstly in London as a copyist and then in Durham as a
teacher. At the same time, he continued his linguistic, mathematical and
astronomical studies and also polished the first bronze mirrors that he was
to use in his first telescopes."
Just imagine, cleaning your mirror meant that you also had to re-figure it!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Czerwinski" <bczerwin@No-Spam>
To: "'The Astronomy Connection'" <sf-bay-tac@No-Spam>
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2003 11:49 AM
Subject: RE: [TAC] Astro Quiz part?
> > > Just a guess, based on the material used by Lord Rosse: Tin
> > > and Copper?
>
> > Nope.
>
> Platinum (platina), maybe? That's from about the mid-1700s. Pretty
> gray, though.
>
> ..Bob...
>