Sky & Telescope - December 2018 - 73

was Alfaras who was responsible for convincing and helping his good friend Josep Costas to start grinding mirrors in
1961. Costas began with a piece 116 mm in diameter, and it
took him more than a month to realize that he could achieve
good results. Following his success, he began receiving orders
from members of both SADEYA and Aster. He even began
teaching his techniques in the backroom of his corner shop
(a convenience store called La Fontana de Oro). Costas soon
became one of the most respected amateur telescope makers
in Spain and produced more than 3,500 parabolic mirrors for
reﬂector telescopes; these were used by many Spanish amateurs during the second half of the 20th century.

PUBLIC DO M AIN / UMBR AL (OCTOBER 2, 1937)

Social Spaces and Science

during the dictatorship in spaces not directly controlled or
supervised by older adults. Surprisingly, however, the creation
of new amateur astronomical societies and the organization
of such successful popularization programs were not seen by
the dictatorial regime as dangerous or threatening. In fact,
it even seemed to ﬁt well with some of the guiding principles
defended by Franco's government, such as the ideals of social
harmony, cooperation, and union, as well as the gloriﬁcation of youth. And many activities developed by Aster were
reported and publicized by the press, radio, and Spanish
newsreels. Undeniably, the observation and study of the skies
could prove particularly useful for spreading the ideological
values of the dictatorship.
Ironically, given the regime's determination to suppress
foreign inﬂuence on Spanish science, such accomplishments
were only possible thanks to
an already-existing amateur
tradition that had developed
in Spain during the ﬁrst few
decades of the 20th century, particularly under the
inﬂuence of Flammarion
and SAF. Many amateurs,
however, saw in the practice
of astronomy a way to share
their concerns and hopes, as
well as their perception of
the world. Such an exchange
of ideas constituted a bastion
of freedom to enjoy with
others, where they could
experience ways of thinking
that differed from those in
their respective environments. Indeed, the development of amateur astronomy
in autonomous groups outside the direct control of the
regime played an important
role in the gradual rebuilding
of Spanish civil society.

These initiatives have to be understood as part of a wider
program for the popularization of astronomy, since the
instruments were not only
suitable for amateurs to
start making observations,
but also encouraged small
groups of amateurs to begin
their own outreach activities.
Indeed, they ﬁt with Aster's
efforts to popularize astronomy, which also included the
projection of ﬁlms and documentaries, as well as musical
sessions on the ﬂat roof of
the association premises -
many of them using difﬁcultto-ﬁnd materials provided
by foreign institutions such
as the French and American
consulates. The most popular
activities were, certainly, the
parties held after some of the
conferences. Public parties,
and especially dancing, had
deﬁned the leisure of young
people in Spain for decades.
Nevertheless, the dictatorial
regime paid special attention
to the regulation and control
of public parties, particularly under the inﬂuence of
the Catholic Church, which
developed a campaign against
dancing, mostly on moral
and class-conscious grounds.
p LIBERTARIAN SPAIN This full-page celebration of Josep Comas
In this context, private
i Solá and his work at the Fabra Observatory was published in 1937
parties such as those orgaunder the heading "Spain and Its Values" in Umbral, a weekly publication
nized by Aster no doubt
printed during the Spanish Civil War in València and Barcelona. Comas, a
reafﬁrmed an autonomous
guiding light in amateur astronomy in Barcelona, was the first director of
youth culture that ﬂourished
Barcelona's Fabra Observatory.

¢ PEDRO RUIZ-CASTELL
is an Assistant Professor
in History of Science at the
University of València in Spain
and a member of the López
Piñero Institute for the History
of Science and Medicine.
His research and publications have focused mostly on
astronomy and astrophysics
in the 19th and 20th centuries,
science in the public sphere,
and scientific instruments.

sk yandtelescope.com * DECE MBE R 2 018

http://www.skyandtelescope.com

Sky & Telescope - December 2018

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