Post by Admin on May 30, 2014 10:25:43 GMT -5
There has been somewhat of a controversy whether Alika Herring was Tom Caves best optician. He worked with Cave early on when the company was formed. He started with Cave in 1952 or 1953 and left when ask to work for Gerard P. Kuiper, director of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) in 1961. O. Richard Norton who was only 15 in 1953 and worked for Cave Optical, later professed that "All of Herring's mirrors had very fine figures, and some were extraordinary".
Norton later wrote "Buchroeder had recently acquired an 8-inch telescope with a Herring mirror. He was well aware of the "legendary" Herring mirrors made in the '60s and '70s, and he had always wanted to put one to the test. Buchroeder's results substantiated what I already suspected: Herring's mirrors are among the finest."
So why did Tom Cave (Cave Tapes on the Cave website) say that "He was good, but he wasn't my best optician. He liked to "toot" his horn"?
I believe Norton. He was a fabulous optician. When Herring left Cave in the 60's I believe Tom realized he lost his best man. When Herring came back to Cave in May of 1970 he picked up where he left off, making great mirrors. Two years later he got permission from Cave to make his own mirrors to sell. He even made them during work hours at Cave Optical! I believe this is when Tom Cave became "clouded" on Herring's abilities. Cave was getting more and more pressure put on him to produce telescopes (and getting behind) and the "deal" with Herring bothered him a bit. Later in life I believe that is what made Cave say that Herring was not his best. Was it out of Jealousy or just him being perturbed at Herring getting the limelight, I guess we will never know. I think Tom really believed that Alika Herring's mirrors where the best.
It is also interesting that at Tom's Home observatory that houses a 12 1/2" Cave telescope, he has a 12 1/2" mirror given to him and figured by (you guessed it!) Alika Herring.
Norton later wrote "Buchroeder had recently acquired an 8-inch telescope with a Herring mirror. He was well aware of the "legendary" Herring mirrors made in the '60s and '70s, and he had always wanted to put one to the test. Buchroeder's results substantiated what I already suspected: Herring's mirrors are among the finest."
So why did Tom Cave (Cave Tapes on the Cave website) say that "He was good, but he wasn't my best optician. He liked to "toot" his horn"?
I believe Norton. He was a fabulous optician. When Herring left Cave in the 60's I believe Tom realized he lost his best man. When Herring came back to Cave in May of 1970 he picked up where he left off, making great mirrors. Two years later he got permission from Cave to make his own mirrors to sell. He even made them during work hours at Cave Optical! I believe this is when Tom Cave became "clouded" on Herring's abilities. Cave was getting more and more pressure put on him to produce telescopes (and getting behind) and the "deal" with Herring bothered him a bit. Later in life I believe that is what made Cave say that Herring was not his best. Was it out of Jealousy or just him being perturbed at Herring getting the limelight, I guess we will never know. I think Tom really believed that Alika Herring's mirrors where the best.
It is also interesting that at Tom's Home observatory that houses a 12 1/2" Cave telescope, he has a 12 1/2" mirror given to him and figured by (you guessed it!) Alika Herring.