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Clark family

American astronomers and telescope makers
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Clark family, American family of telescope makers and astronomers who supplied unexcelled lenses to many observatories in the United States and Europe during the heyday of the refracting telescope. Alvan Clark (b. March 8, 1804, Ashfield, Mass., U.S.—d. Aug. 19, 1887, Cambridge, Mass.) built a career as a portrait painter and engraver, but at the age of 40 he became interested in optics. With his son George Bassett Clark (b. Feb. 14, 1827, Lowell, Mass.—d....

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