OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.65 2005-11
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I became fascinated with magnifying
glasses and spent all my time making telescopes and microsopes
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| Denjiro Yonemura regularly holds "fun with science" seminars
for children on the fifth floor of the Science Museum. The children make
and play with a wide variety of experimental equipment. (Photograph courtesy
of the Science Museum) |
When I was in my second year of elementary school, my mother bought me a magnifying
glass. It cost 60 yen. Everyone else had magnifying glasses that cost 50 yen
each, so I felt rather special because my mother had bought me a 60 yen one.
I took it everywhere. I was fascinated by the way it made things appear bigger,
and I wanted to know how it worked. That experience may have been the starting
point for my present career.
Lens are shiny and attractive. I loved going to the science room
because there were rows of concave and convex lenses and prisms on stands in
a cupboard. Even a child's toy lens in a plastic mount was a treasure for me.
I also used to chase ants and try to burn them with my lens. I was surprised
at how fast ants can run. They were so small but so quick. I always wanted
lenses, but I couldn't find any. Then I was surprised to learn that there was
a lens factory near my home, and that one of my classmate's parents worked
there. That boy sometimes brought rejected products to school to show everyone.
I quickly asked him to give me some, and soon I was eagerly assembling Kepler
and Galileo telescopes and microscopes.
There was a kit that you could assemble to make an astronomical
telescope. When I was in high school I bought one of those by mail order and
built a telescope. The tube was made from paper, but I could really see well
through it. Even though I put it together without much care, it actually worked.
It was a very emotional moment.
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| "Yonemura Denjiro no Omoshiro Kagakukan" [The Fascinating Science Hall of Denjiro Yonemura] (published by Ohmsha) and "Omoshiro Rikajikkenshu 2" [Fun Science Experiments 2] (published by CMC) are full of experiments that everyone will want to try. Remember, Denjiro Yonemura wants to hear from you if you think of an interesting experiment. |
Even
with a cheap telescope, you can still see the craters on the moon. I enjoyed
the experience of making and operating things, even if I couldn't see well
through my telescopes or my motors didn't work properly. I would compare
what I saw with star charts and other information that I borrowed from
school. I somehow felt like a real astronomer, and that was enough for
me. Some people become real enthusiasts and immerse themselves in astronomy.
I did not reach that stage and was happy to just to dabble. You must have
been really serious, since you eventually became an engineer for a optical
equipment manufacturer.
Yes.
Though Olympus doesn't make astronomical telescopes. (Laughs). But I also liked
photography. My family's camera happened to be an Olympus Pen. When I was small
I wasn't allowed to use it often, but one day my parents told me that I could
take pictures with it. The resulting photographs were beautiful. I thought that
maybe I had talent as a photographer....
That
was before cameras became automatic.
Yes.
It was a manual camera. I learned by experience that shutter speed was a matter
of time, and that you set the lens aperture according to the light.
You
must have good photographic instincts. |
