History

Years ago one of my daughter's asked me if I would bring one of my telescopes into her elementary school class during "show and tell" and talk to her classmates about astronomy.

After my initial "sure I will" answer, I was faced with the proposition that I had absolutely no idea what to talk about to a group of little children pertaining to the science of astronomy. What could I possibly say or show that would interest them? Surely they were already exposed in school to the sun, moon, planets and stars from an academic perspective and were by this time either bored to death learning by rote the order of the planets in the solar system, or that the earth revolves around the sun, and that the moon has a different face throughout the month. Would they have an interest in learning about "real astronomy" or actually seeing the real universe? Had not television and movies such as "Star Trek", "Star Wars", and a variety of action packed fantasy computer games already stimulated their minds and imaginations to the saturation point? How could I compete against microchip generated special effects displaying the fiction aspects of the universe?

Of course I figured topics such as cataclysmic variable stars, galaxy formation or the like would be far over their heads, and a discussion of why the moon has phases would be a redundant explanation of what they may have learned already. So, I decided just to arrive with a telescope, explain what it does, hope for the best, and make a timely exit back to my anonymous "cube" in the fortune 500.

Several HOURS and HUNDREDS of rapid-fire questions later that day in that small school classroom, the concept of the Astronomy Delight! program was born. A concept that is not based upon what is only found in books, or taught in a mandated classroom environment, but a concept which by actual participation in viewing such things as sunspots, or creatively seeing what a "real" million stars look like in a "book of a million", allows children a fun, casual, and informal opportunity to see how the real universe operates through their own eyes.

I will never forget the interest shown by those children in that original "show and tell" class. As while for the first time in their lives the children were viewing real sunspots projected on a screen through an old telescope that day, a very excited seven year old girl came up to me and asked.....

"How did you ever get so interested in astronomy and how old were you?"

I answered , "I was about seven, and I looked through a telescope"

I hope you will consider the Astronomy Delight! experience!

Sincerely,

Ed Forrest
Company founder and lover of the stars