The world's biggest scientific instrument, and probably its biggest precision mechanism, is the giant radiotelescope at Jodrell Bank, just south of Manchester, England. Demonstrated to the press last week, it is almost finished and will go into action this summer, reaching into the depths of the universe for faint whispers of radio information.
The working part of the telescope is a parabolic reflector 250 ft. in diameter, surfaced with accurately curved steel plates and weighing 750 tons. Supported by two towers 185 ft. high, it pivots 360° on massive racks taken from turrets of...