The visible universe, and how it comes that we know so much about it --
Astronomy's progress before the invention of the telescope --
How the first telescopes came to be made, and what followed --
The telescope has growing pains; some queer ones appear --
Astronomy's advances go hand in hand with improvements in telescopes --
The battle of the telescopes, and what came of it --
The camera and the spectroscope become handmaidens of the telescope --
The telescopes of today: how they work and how they are mounted --
Something about light and how the telescope makes use of it --
The ancient art of glassmaking, and the modern art of making telescopes --
Good seeing, magnification, definition, catching the invisible light --
Instruments that help measure and interpret what the telescope sees --
How telescopes came to America: her historic observatories --
Today's eyes of the earth: some great observatories and their telescopes --
Some famous American telescope-makers and their work --
Amateur telescope-makers and how they have advanced the art --
Mirrors to come: preparing for the greatest telescope adventure --
Telescopes of the future: has the ultimate been reached? --
The world's largest telescopes and where they are located --
Some modern observatories in North America and the Southern Hemisphere.