General-purpose and dedicated regimes in the use of telescopes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a sociohistorical framework distinguishing general-purpose and dedicated regimes in telescope use, illustrating how different telescopes transition between these modes over time and across observatories.

Contribution

It presents a novel conceptual framework for understanding the evolution of telescope use, validated through historical case studies and applicable to other scientific fields.

Findings

Toulouse telescope shifted from general-purpose to dedicated regime in the 1930s.

Marseille telescope adopted a dedicated regime early and reverted to survey mode after WWII.

Various telescopes exhibit combinations of the two regimes, including successive, simultaneous, or alternating use.

Abstract

We propose a sociohistorical framework for better understanding the evolution in the use of telescopes. We define two regimes of use : a general-purpose (or survey) one, where the telescope governs research, and a dedicated one, in which the telescope is tailored to a specific project which includes a network of other tools. This conceptual framework is first applied to the history of the 80-cm telescope of Toulouse Observatory, which is initially anchored in a general-purpose regime linked to astrometry. After a transition in the 1930s, it is integrated in a dedicated regime centered on astrophysics. This evolution is compared to that of a very similar instrument, the 80-cm telescope of Marseille Observatory, which converts early on to the dedicated regime with the Fabry-Perot interferometer around 1910, and, after a period of idleness, is again used in the survey mode after WWII. To further validate our new concept, we apply it to the telescopes of Washburn Observatory, of Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and of Meudon Observatory. The uses of the different telescopes illustrate various combinations of the two regimes, which can be successive, simultaneous or alternating. This conceptual framework is likely to be applicable to other fields of pure and applied science.