John Dobson in Wellington, New Zealand, April 2005

John L. Dobson (born September 14, 1915) is a highly influential amateur astronomer who has been dubbed the "pied piper of astronomy" and the "star monk". He was the only amateur astronomer highlighted in the PBS series The Astronomers, and appeared twice on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He has also been featured in two recent documentaries, Universe–The Cosmology Quest [1] and A Sidewalk Astronomer [2]. John Dobson in Wellington, New Zealand. ... John Dobson in Wellington, New Zealand. ... Former parliament buildings on the left and part of the current complex, The Beehive, on the right Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Poneke) is the capital city of New Zealand and the countrys second-largest urban area. ... 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Deaths in April • 26: Augusto Roa Bastos • 24: Ezer Weizman • 23: Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen • 23: John Mills • 16: Marla Ruzicka • 9: Andrea Dworkin • 6: Prince Rainier III • 5: Dale Messick • 5: Saul Bellow • 2: Pope John... September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Amateur astronomy, often called back yard astronomy, is a hobby whose participants enjoy observing celestial objects. ... The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was the full name of NBCs The Tonight Show during the years that Johnny Carson hosted. ... A Sidewalk Astronomer (2005) is a documentary film that introduces amateur astronomy. ...

He was born in Beijing, China. His maternal grandfather founded Peking University, his mother was a musician, and his father taught zoology at the University. He and his parents moved to San Francisco, California in 1927. His father accepted a teaching position at Lowell High School and taught there until the 1950s. He spent 23 years in a monastery, after which he became more active in promoting astronomy, and his own brand of cosmology.   Beijing? (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Peking) is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... This article is about the domestic group. ... Peking University 博学审问慎思明辨 Peking University or Beijing University (Simplified Chinese: 北京大学; Traditional Chinese: 北京大學; pinyin: ), colloquially known as Beida (Simplified Chinese: 北大; Pinyin: ), is one of the most prestigious universities in China. ... Look up mother in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A father is the male parent of a child. ... In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study or a practical skill, including learning and thinking skills. ... Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... A professor giving a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Parenting comprises all the tasks involved in raising a child to an independent adult. ... The downtown San Francisco skyline, looking east from the central part of the city. ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lowell High School, is a prestigious public magnet school in San Francisco, California. ... // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning... Buddhist monastery near Tibet A monastery is the habitation of monks. ... Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ...

Dobson's time at the monastery

John Dobson was an atheist through high school, but over time he came to believe that there was more to the Universe. He enquired about joining a monastery in 1940, but was turned away at the time in order to complete his studies. He took a degree in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1943 and joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. This article is about academic degrees. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo. ... University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, The University of California, or simply Berkeley) is a public coeducational university situated east of the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley, California, overlooking the Golden Gate. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Sri Thakur Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Bangla: শ্রীরামকৄষ্ঞ পরমহংস) (February 18, 1836 - August 16, 1886) was a Bengali saint. ... A religious order is an organization of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with religious devotion. ...

During his time at the monastery, he became very interested in the workings of the Universe. His interest led to activities in telescope building in order to understand more of the Universe. To this end, he often offered assistance and corresponded about his work with those outside. Telescope building was not part of the curriculum at the monastery, however, and much of his correspondence had to be in code so as to attract less attention. For instance, a telescope was referred to as a "geranium", which is a type of flower. A "potted geranium" referred to a telescope that was in a tube and rocker, while a "geranium in bloom" referred to a telescope whose mirror was now aluminized. Geranium can be: The genus Geranium of flowering plants, usually called the cranesbills Any of the garden plants called geraniums, which are members of the related genus Pelargonium. ...

Eventually John Dobson was given the option of either leaving the order, or to cease his telescope building. At the time he chose to cease building telescopes, but this decision did not last for long and he was eventually asked by his religious superiors to leave.

Later he was asked to speak at the Vedanta Society in Hollywood and has continued to spend several weeks each year teaching telescope and cosmology classes there.

Promotion of astronomy

Having left the order in 1967, Dobson became a co-founder of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, an organization that aims to popularize astronomy among people on the street. It was also at this time that his simple form of mount, which came to be known as the Dobsonian telescope mount, became well known. 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In astronomy the Dobsonian is a type of alt-azimuth telescope mounting that became popular among amateur astronomers in the 1980s because of its extreme simplicity, low price, and rugged construction. ... In astronomy, the telescope mount is an important part of the overall design of an operational telescope. ...

The Dobsonian mount

The Dobsonian mount is a simple way of mounting a telescope, based on the altazimuth mount that simply allows for it to be aimed at a particular point in the sky, in contrast to more complicated mechanics that automatically track the part of the sky that is being watched. An Altazimuth or alt-azimuth mount is a simple mount used for moving a telescope or camera along two perpendicular axes of motion. ...

In Dobson's own reasoning, the design is simply the easiest way to build a mount that will allow a telescope to point anywhere in the sky. He is reluctant to take credit for the design, however, on the grounds that he simply built it that way because it was all he needed, and he was "too retarded" to build a more sophisticated equatorial telescope mount. With its simplicity of construction and use, the Dobsonian mount has become an extremely popular mount today, particularly for large amateur telescopes. An Equatorial Mount for a telescope. ...

Sidewalk Astronomers

Having cheaply constructed several telescopes that were easy to use, including a 24-inch telescope that was built for approximately US$300, John Dobson co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers in coordination with two other people. Rather than have regular meetings, the organisation simply set up telescopes on the sidewalk during clear evenings, offering to show and explain the night sky to people passing by.

In an unexpected event, the Sidewalk Astronomers were invited to the Riverside Telescope Makers' meeting in 1968 - 1969. As most telescopes at such meetings tended to be smaller, on equatorial mounts, as well as designed and used for astrophotography rather than optical viewing, the 24-inch Dobsonian mounted telescope brought by the Sidewalk Astronomers was very unconventional. Surprisingly and somewhat controversially at the time, Dobson's telescope tied in first prize for best optics, and was awarded the runner up for mechanics, despite the mechanics of the telescope and its mount being relatively simple. 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Astrophotography is a specialised type of photography that entails taking photographs of items in the night sky such as planets, stars, and deep sky objects. ...

Since then, Sidewalk Astronomers has become a very prominent organization, well known for its taking of astronomy to the public. The organization now has members throughout the world, and continues to promote public service astronomy by putting telescopes on street corners in urban areas. Members of the organisation also visit national parks giving slide show presentations, providing telescope viewing, and explaining the Universe to people.

Cosmology

John Dobson, himself, is a popular and famous figure among astronomers, and he travels to many amateur meetings and star parties around the world. He frequently uses this attention to promote his somewhat unorthodox views about cosmology. Cosmology, from the Greek: κοσμολογία (cosmologia, κόσμος (cosmos) world + λογια (logia) discourse) is the study of the universe in its totality and by extension mans place in it. ...

Dobson is a strong critic of the Big Bang model that is accepted by most cosmologists, labelling it as "fudge without walnuts". He reasons that it is illogical to get something out of nothing. He also alleges many complicated flaws, particularly the inconsistency of dark matter, that cannot be explained without resorting to what he considers increasingly complicated, unlikely and unsupported theories. In essence, Dobson claims that physicists have been inventing new physics to match the Big Bang model. He is also a critic of the education system, alleging that it trains new scientists to accept the Big Bang model rather than evaluate it critically. According to the Big Bang theory, the universe originated in an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ... In cosmology, dark matter consists of matter particles that cannot be detected by their emitted radiation but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter such as stars and galaxies. ...

Instead, he promotes his own Recycling Model of the Universe. His model is based on Albert Einstein's assertion in general relativity that energy equals matter, and on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Put simply, Dobson contends that although the Universe is forever expanding, Hydrogen atoms "recycle" over time in a way comparable with quantum tunneling. Entropy therefore remains constant, because atoms rebuild their order as they recycle. Albert Einstein, by Yousuf Karsh Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) was a German-born Jewish theoretical physicist of German, Swiss and American citizenship, who is widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the 20th century or even of all time. ... Two-dimensional visualization of space-time distortion. ... In quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, sometimes called the Heisenberg indeterminacy principle, expresses a limitation on accuracy of (nearly) simultaneous measurement of observables such as the position and the momentum of a particle. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Properties For alternative meanings see atom (disambiguation). ... Quantum tunneling is the quantum-mechanical effect of transitioning through a classically-forbidden energy state. ...

Critics of Dobson, however, claim that his own cosmological model is not well based on science, and that his arguments against the predominant cosmological theories has been through quoting people and theories incorrectly, and out of context.

Publications by John Dobson

Dobson authored the 1991 book How and Why to Make a User-Friendly Sidewalk Telescope (ISBN 0913399647) with editor Norman Sperling. This book helped popularize what came to be known as the Dobsonian mount, and treats the "why" as importantly as the "how". It covers Dobson's background and his philosophy on astronomy and the universe, and his belief in the importance of popular access to astronomy for proper appreciation of the universe. John Dobson is now in the process of publishing Beyond Space and Time and The Moon is New. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Norman Sperling is an author, editor, publisher, teacher, and telescope designer living in San Mateo, California. ...

See also

• Non-standard cosmology

A non-standard cosmology is a cosmological framework that contradicts the standard model of physical cosmology. ...

External links

• Sidewalk Astronomers - This website includes John Dobson's official schedule.
• http://www.sidewalkastronomers.com/
• The San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers