There is no question in my mind that the greatest technical writer ever (at least in English) was Sam Brown. No one else has matched him for presenting information so clearly, so concisely, and with such a complete absence of compromise and condescension. Yet outside of the small communities of amateur astronomers and certain amateur machinists, few have ever heard of him. Very little is known about him.
Brown was published widely. He wrote for Popular Mechanics, edited The Deltagram for nearly a decade, and later produced many of the legendary booklets on amateur optics and astronomy for the former Edmund Scientific company. In his day, and within the home workshop and amateur astronomy communities, he was famous. Yet that fame faded with the decline of the home workshop in America, and as yet he is insufficiently well known in the new "maker" culture of the 21st century.
This Notebook is just an attempt, first, to list those few biographical details about Sam Brown as are known, and, second, to compile a bibliography of as many of his publications as I can find.
NOTE: I would greatly appreciate any additional information, biographical or bibliographical, which might be included here (and of course corrections to any errors which might appear). It is a great shame that a writer and maker of this caliber has been so ignored. I may be reached via e-mail at: dmm@Lemur.com
At present, we know only a few isolated facts about Sam Brown. (According to Tony Flanders, he was "famously reclusive". {Flanders 2011}) Most of what we do know comes from two brief postings in the online astronomy forum "Cloudy Nights." These postings, by Tony Flanders and "amicus sidera" will be cited here as {Flanders 2011} and {Amicus 2014}. Here are the items we do know, arranged chronologically (plus a few general notes at the end):
An entry in a 1961 volume of the Catalog of Copyright Entries gives his full name: Samuel Irvine Brown. {Copyright 1961} "Amicus sidera" gives the same full name. {Amicus 2014}.
The Library of Congress' catalog says that he was born in 1906. An online genealogical website ( http://www.ancientfaces.com/) gives his date of birth as May 13, 1906. This website cites as its source the US Social Security Death Index.
According to "Amicus sidera," he was born in Scotland and emigrated to the US "sometime in his youth." {Amicus 2014}
Lela (Brown's future wife) was born August 30, 1910. {AncientFaces LB}
He married "by his 30s"; his wife's name was Lela. {Amicus 2014}
Tony Flanders, citing in turn Dennis di Cicco (editor of Sky and Telescope magazine) says that Brown lived in Ohio and was "famously reclusive" {Flanders 2011}. Flanders also notes that "His house is still standing, and [is] recognizable from some of the photos in his Popular Mechanics articles. Another posting in the same thread (by "danmdak") observes that Brown always "listed Akron Ohio throughout his books whenever he needed to illustrate an example of time zone correction, etc.," but other evidence indicates that he was a longtime resident of Marion, Ohio, not Akron.
"By his 30s", he and his wife "settled in Marion, Ohio" and he lived their until his death. {Amicus 2014}
An online genealogical website ( http://www.ancientfaces.com/) gives his "last known residence" at his death as "Marion, Marion County, Ohio." This website cites as its source the US Social Security Death Index. {AncientFaces SB}
"Amicus sidera" speculates that he lived near Mt. Vernon Avenue in Marion, noting that:
" All About Telescopes [ {SB 1967 ES}]contains many photos that Brown took from his own yard; prominent are a series containing the elevated sign of Marion's Big Bear supermarket (a now-defunct Ohio chain) on Mt. Vernon Ave., with what is likely his home in the first image." {Amicus 2014} [Note that the photograph on p. 55 of All About Telescopes shows a view from a home into the adjacent Big Bear parking lot. It suggests that this home is near, but not on, the same street as the Big Bear.]
[TO DO: Identify his earliest Popular Mechanics article. 1920s]
[TO DO: Identify his earliest Popular Science article.]
[TO DO: Identify his earliest Modern Mechanics & Invention article.]
[TO DO: Identify his earliest piece for Delta Manufacturing.
He began editing The Deltagram (the house organ of Delta Manufacturing) in 1934. {SB 1934-1942 Deltagram}.
He began writing for Edmund Scientific in 1945, with Selected Sky Objects [ {SB 1945 ES SSO}] and Homebuilt Telescopes [ {SB 1945 ES HT}] {Amicus 2014}.
His last completed work for Edmund Scientific was in 1974 Mag 5 Star Atlas [ {SB 1974 ES}]. His work on The Edmund Sky Guide [ {SB 1977 ES}] was incompete at the time of his death. {Amicus 2014}.
Sam Brown died in 1976. "Amicus sidera" gives his age at his death as 68. Lela Brown "survived him by nearly three decades." {Amicus 2014}
An online genealogical website ( http://www.ancientfaces.com/) gives his month of death as February 1976, and computes his age at that time as 69 years. This website cites as its source the US Social Security Death Index. {AncientFaces SB}
Lela Brown died on May 3, 2003, age 92. Her city of residence at her death was Marion, OH. {AncientFaces LB}
We know that Sam Brown wrote extensively for:
He edited The Deltagram for Delta Manufacturing from 1934 to 1942. {SB 1934-1942 Deltagram}.
Here is a curious puzzle: A couple of years ago I was searching through Google Books for information on Brown. While searching within "Popular Mechanics" (title), I found the following (cut-and-pasted here from the search then):
"BROWN, SAM When only a very young man, Sam Brown began to write for Popular Mechanics in the 1920's, and his precisely detailed articles have been appearing ..."
The puzzle is the fact that I cannot now find this text. (unfortunately, my text cut-and-pasting from the Google Books snippet result did not include the Google Book ID). Google seems to have lost any knowledge it once had of it. I've browsed the entire 1961 year of Popular Mechanics and cannot find it. It looks tantalizingly like the opening of a biographical sketch, but it has vanished without a trace.
Brown's articles for Popular Mechanics may be viewed online via Google Books (I presume that the magazine's publishers and Google have come to an arrangement to allow this, as all of the original PM articles during the period of Brown's career remain in copyright.) Go to the Google Books advanced search page to find them: http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search
Some issues of Popular Science, for which Brown wrote less frequently, are available in full view via Google Books. In many cases, though, Google has both full view and snippet view versions of the same issue; it may take some persistence to find the viewable one.
Some of Brown's books for Delta are available on the Vintage Machinery (.org) website (this is the successor to the "Old Woodworking Machinery" site). The easiest way to find them is first to go to the VM site's Manufacturers' Index. Then search on "delta". Select "Delta Manufacturing Co." from the results. On the Delta page, select the "Publications/Reprints" tab. They have several hundred Delta publications, so you'll have to search through the list (a pleasant task).
In 2001, the former Edmund Scientific Corporation sold their "Edmund Scientific" brand to a school science supply company. That brand is now unrelated to the surviving original company, which is now called Edmund Optics. Edmund Optics has continued as a high-end optics manufacturer. Through their Anchor Optics commercial/experimental optics brand, they still have in (electronic) print many of the now classic Edmund Scientific optics publications, and have made these available for free download. These include a few by Brown. See: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/ This is a tremendous service to the home shop machinist, amateur scientist, and maker. Note that the Anchor Optics collection includes works not by Sam Brown (but of course still quite interesting), and works which might be by Brown but which are not identified as such (even though many were included in compilations).
Even in our digital era, the original printed versions are always better than their electronic ghosts.
[The items here were discovered largely through research on particular topics, not as a result of an exhaustive search for the works of SB. I'm certain that there are more. TO DO: Go through Popular Mechanics (especially) month-by-month from 1928 to 1977 looking for SB articles.]
In earlier versions of this Notebook, I tried to classify these items by topic. This proved impossible, because Sam Brown wrote about everything within the world of the home workshop (and sometimes beyond). Here, then, I'll just present them chronologically. Use your browser's "find" feature to locate individual items based on topic or title.
{Braces} enclose bibliographic citations. See the Notebook on CircuitousRoot Presentational Conventions for a discussion of why.
Note that the copyright date for Delta publications is not the same as the actual date of publication of the specific edition. They seem to have used the word "edition" when most publishers might have said "printing." But, confusingly, they later used "edition" to mean "edition." So for example the 1952 printing of the 1950 "Third Edition" of Getting the Most Out Of Your Band Saw and Scroll Saw is the third major revision of the work, and thus later than the 17th edition (which is the 1947 printing of the 1937 second major revision).
Edmund Scientific issued a number of anonymous works that seem, judged by their style, almost certain to be by SB. I'll include those here which seem to me likely to be by SB, but I'll prefix each such entry with "MAYBE".
One last preliminary note: If you are unfamiliar with Brown's work and want to get a taste of it at its best, don't just start at the beginning with the early pieces on parlour tricks. Jump straight to some of his Popular Mechanics workshop machinery articles from the late 1940s and 1950s, or to his Edmund Scientific booklets from the 1960s.
{SB 1929 May PM EHT} SB. "Easy Handkerchief Tricks." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 51, No 4 (May, 1929): 641-646.
Aside: An entry in the "Timeline of Magic Exposures" in the Magicpedia wiki notes: " The Sphinx, May 1929, reports that ... Popular Mechanics ... [broke its promise] not to expose [secrets of magic performance]" by publishing this article.
{SB 1929 Jul MMI TTKF} SB. "Table Tricks with Knives and Forks." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (July, 1929): 64-67.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/table-tricks-with-knives-forks
{SB 1929 Oct PM SHP} SB. "Stunts for your Hallowe'en Party." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 52, No 4 (October, 1929): 668-673.
{SB 1929 Dec MMI BTSAS} SB. "Boomerang Throwers Show Amazing Skill." Modern Mechanics and Inventions.. Vol. ?, No. ? (December, 1929): 112-114.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/boomerang-throwers-show-amazing-skill/
{SB 1930 Feb MMI MSES} SB. "The Magic of Sound Explained by Science." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (February, 1930): 68-71.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/the-magic-of-sound-explained-by-science/
{SB 1930 Feb MMI SSGWS} SB. "Sailing with Skates Is Great Winter Sport." Modern Mechanics and Inventions.. Vol. ?, No. ? (February, 1930): 104-107.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/sailing-with-skates-is-great-winter-sport/
{SB 1930 Jun MMI HCGCC} SB. Illus. Reynold C. Anderson. "How Carnival Games Cheat Customers." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (June, 1930): 86-89.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/03/25/how-carnival-games-cheat-customers/
{SB 1930 Jul MMI HYSFY} SB. "How Your Senses Fool You." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (July, 1930): .
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/how-your-senses-fool-you/
{SB 1930 Sep MMI MAHSI} SB. "Mechanical Aids Help the Stage Illusionist." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (September, 1930): 88-90.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mechanical-aids-help-the-stage-illusionist
{SB 1930 Oct PM Roamer} SB. "'Roamer' - A Speedy Outboard Cruiser." [Part 1 of 5] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 54, No 4 (Oct. 1930): 667-673.
{SB 1930 Dec MMI ASRB} SB. "Amazing Stunts with Rubber Bands." Modern Mechanics and Inventions. Vol. ?, No. ? (December, 1930): 106-109.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/amazing-stunts-with-rubber-bands/
{SB 1930 Nov PM Roamer} SB. "'Roamer' - A Speedy Outboard Cruiser." [Part 2 of 5] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 54, No 5 (Nov. 1930): 840-847.
{SB 1930 Dec PM Roamer} SB. "'Roamer' - A Speedy Outboard Cruiser." [Part 3 of 5] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 54, No 6 (Dec. 1930): 1018-1025.
{SB 1931 Jan PM Roamer} SB. "'Roamer' - A Speedy Outboard Cruiser." [Part 4 of 5] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 55, No 1 (Jan. 1931): 136-142.
{SB 1931 Feb PM Roamer} SB. "'Roamer' - A Speedy Outboard Cruiser." [Part 5 of 5] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 55, No 2 (Feb. 1931): 314-321.
{SB 1931 May MMI EJT} SB. "Easy Juggling Tricks." Modern Mechanics and Inventions.. Vol. ?, No. ? (May, 1931): 118-121.
Images of this article are online on the Modern Mechanix blog at: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/easy-juggling-tricks/
{SB 1931 PM BB} SB [, Ed?] The Boat Book: Everything of Interest to the Amateur Boatman. Chicago: Popular Mechanics Press, 1931.
{SB 1934 Feb PM JSCTC} SB. "Jigs Simplify Cutting Tapers and Curves on a Circular Saw." Popular Science. Vol. 124, No. 2 (February, 1934): 60.
Note: Much as I admire the work of Sam Brown, this particular one seems a sure plan for serious injury.
{SB 1934-1942 Deltagram} Brown was the editor of The Deltagram (the house organ of the Delta Manufacturing Company) from Vol. 4, No. 1 (October, 1934) to Vol. 11, No. 6 (Summer, 1942).
In greater detail: The Deltagram began in January 1932 under the editorship of James Tate. He is listed as editor through Vol. 2, No. 2 (March 1934). In the bound collection by Delta that I have (which claims to reprint every issue), this number is followed directly by Vol. 3, No. 1 (October, 1933), in which no editor is identified. Sam Brown was first listed as editor on the masthead in Vol. 4, No. 1 (October, 1934). His editorship continued until Vol. 11, No. 6 (Summer), 1942. The next issue, Vol. 12, No. 1 (October, 1942) bore no editor's name. With Vol. 12, No. 2 (November, 1942) the position of editor was taken over by Al. Wood.
{SB 1935 DM GML} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Lathe. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various, from 1935 on].
From 1948 on this publication was retitled Getting the Most out of Your Wood Lathe. See: {SB 1948 DM GMWL}.
Note: The 1935 edition just says "Lathe". The 1948 edition says "Wood Lathe" on the title page (but just "Lathe" on the cover). This book is primarily devoted to woodturning, but (in both the 1935 and the 1948 editions, at least) it covers the use of the Compound Slide Rest for metal turning. This is a slide rest which clamps to the bed. It allows only limited travel in the longitudinal direction. Both the 1935 and 1948 editions also cover metal spinning.
{SB 1936 DM PDP 2, 3} SB, Ed. Practical Delta Projects: New and Novel Things To Make . Volumes 2 and 3. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, 1936.
{SB 1936 DM GMS} SB. Getting the Most Out Of Your Shaper. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various]
This booklet concerns the woodworking shaper. While it is now the more common tool, the woodworking shaper is entirely unrelated to the older and more elegant metalworking shaper.
The page at http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/manufacturers_tool_catalogs.htm also reprints a 6-page instruction booklet, "Operating the No. 1180 Shaper" (Milwaukee, WI: Delta Manufacturing Company, n.d. [printing code: SR-100-6-15-35]) The author of this site attributes this booklet to SB, and indeed much of its material is from Getting the Most Out Of Your Shaper, but it bears no author's name.
{SB 1937 PM GMBSSS} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Band Saw and Scroll Saw. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various editions]
The focus of this booklet is primarily on woodworking. It has one short chapter on metal cutting on the bandsaw.
{SB 1937 PM GMCSJ} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Circular Saw and Jointer. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various?]
{SB 1937 DM GMDP} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Drill Press. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various?]
The 17th edition (probably 1947, copyright 1937) was edited by James Tate, not Sam Brown. It has been Reprinted on VM ( local copy of VM PDF). According to one bookseller's listing, the 1952 edition was edited by Sam Brown (but I haven't actually seen it to confirm this).
{SB 1939 DM GMAT} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Abrasive Tools. (Belt Sander, Disk Sander, Grinder, Buffing Head). Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various?]. Pittsburgh, PA: Delta Div. of Rockwell. [various?]
{SB 1940 DM PFM} SB. Practical Finishing Methods. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, 1940 [and later].
The 1954 edition does not mention SB by name. See: {SB 1954 DM PFM}.
{SB 1942 Sep PM SIWF} SB. "Stains in Wood Finishing." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 78, No. 3 (September, 1942): 106-110.
{SB 1944 Feb PM IFMBUT} SB. "It's Fun Making Built-Up Turnings." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 81, No. 2 (February, 1944): 106-112.
{SB 1945 May PM MIITL} SB. "Mill It in the Lathe." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 83, No. 5 (May, 1945): 130-134.
{SB 1945 ES SSO} SB. Selected Sky Objects. Edmund Scientific, 1945.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
{SB 1945 PM PMFYW} SB. "Paint Magic For Your Walls." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 83, No. 1 (Jan. 1945): 106-111.
{SB 1945 ES HT} SB, with Robert Edmund. Homebuilt Telescopes. Edmund Scientific, 1945.
My bibliographic information here is from {Amicus 2014}. I have not seen the 1945 edition of this work. Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
Later editions:
{SB 1947 Apr PM FS10} SB. "Friction Sawing - 10 Times Faster." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 87, No. 4 (April 1947): 217-218.
{SB 1948 Apr PM BBC} SB. "Ball-Bearing Centers." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 89, No. 4 (April 1948): 207-209.
{SB 1948 Aug PM BBSMJ} SB. "Bending Brakes for Your Sheet-Metal Jobs." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 90, No. 2 (August 1948): 207-210.
I've done a fair bit of research into the popular and trade literature for traditional sheet metal bending, and can attest that this is the best general introduction to the subject ever written. Brief as it is, it covers important details that most other accounts overlook. If it seems simple, that's just because SB was very good.
{SB 1948 Nov PM ROL} SB. "Rings of Light." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 90, No. 5 (November, 1948): 199-201.
Decorative uses for circular fluorescent lights.
{SB 1948 DM GMWL} SB, Ed. Getting the Most Out Of Your Wood Lathe. Milwaukee, WI: Delta, [various, from 1948 on].
This is a later edition of Getting the Most Out of Your Lathe. See: {SB 1935 DM GML}.
Note: The 1935 edition just says "Lathe". The 1948 edition says "Wood Lathe" on the title page (but just "Lathe" on the cover). This book is primarily devoted to woodturning, but (in both the 1935 and the 1948 editions, at least) it covers the use of the Compound Slide Rest for metal turning. This is a slide rest which clamps to the bed. It allows only limited travel in the longitudinal direction. Both the 1935 and 1948 editions also cover metal spinning.
{SB 1949 Dec PM LPC} SB. "Lathe Pipe Centers." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 92, No. 6 (December, 1949): 213-214.
For the metal lathe.
In addition to the version available via Google Books, there is a monochrome scan online at http://www.metalwebnews.org/mr-tools/lathe-pipe-center.pdf.
{SB 1949 PM PYHW} SB, Ed. Planning Your Home Workshop. Chicago, IL: Popular Mechanics Press, 1949, 1953.
A second edition appeared in 1953. {SB 1953 PM PYHW}
{SB 1950 Feb PM LYOL} SB. "Lay Your Own Linoleum." [Part 1 of 2] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 93, No. 2 (Feburary, 1950): 194-199.
{SB 1950 Mar PM LYOL} SB. "Lay Your Own Linoleum." [Part 2 of 2] Popular Mechanics. Vol. 93, No. 3 (March, 1950): 188-192.
{SB 1950 Dec PM HTTP} SB. "How to Turn Plastics." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 94, No. 6 (December, 1950): 210-214.
{SB 1951 Oct PM SMM} SB. "Sawing On the Milling Machine." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 96, No. 4 (October, 1951): 218-222.
{SB 1951 Dec PM HUEM} SB. "How to Use End Mills." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 96, No. 6 (December, 1951): 208-213.
Note: This must have been reprinted somewhere, as I have a PDF of a single page (acquired on some long-forgotten net trawl) of the first page of this article - but this other version bears the page number 140 (not 208). I haven't yet located this "p. 140" version.
{SB 1951 PM HPBS} SB, Ed. How To Paint with Brush and Spray. Chicago: Popular Mechanics Press, 1951.
This is from an online card catalog entry for the New Jersey State Library. I haven't yet seen it.
{SB 1952 Jul PM RSR} SB. "Roll 'Em Up! with a Slip Roll." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 98, No. 1 (July, 1952): 196-199.
{SB 1952 Aug PM HTCSM} SB. "How to Cut Sheet Metal." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 98, No. 2 (August, 1952): 196-201.
{SB 1953 Mar PM TTD} SB. "Threading with Taps and Dies." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 99, No. 3 (March, 1953): 214-219.
In addition to the Google version, a PDF of this is online at http://www.sawmill.ausmade.com.au/ThreadingWithTapsandDies.pdf
{SB 1953 Apr PM IFTTM} SB. "It's Fun to Tool Metal." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 99, No. 4 (April, 1953): 218-223.
Repoussé, Chasing, "Tooling".
{SB 1953 Nov PM NBM} SB. "Novelties in Bent Metal." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 100, No. 5 (November, 1953): 205-207.
{SB 1953 PM PMGAC} SB, Ed. Popular Mechanics Golden Anniversary Collection of Home Workshop Projects . Chicago: Popular Mechanics Press, 1953.
{SB 1953 PM PYHW} SB, Ed. Planning Your Home Workshop. Chicago, IL: Popular Mechanics Press, 1953.
This is the second edition of {SB 1949 PM PYHW}. This 1953 edition says that it has 48 more pages than the original edition. It would be difficult to write a better general introduction to setting up any type of home workshop.
{SB 1954 Jan PM MMSPSM} SB. "Milling-Machine Setups with Plain and Side Mills." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 101, No. 1 (January 1954): 224-228.
For the horizontal milling machine.
{SB 1954 Feb PM KMS} SB. "Know Your Metal Shaper." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 101, No. 2 (February, 1954): 234-239.
For sources see CircuitousRoot Metal Shaper Literature Notebook.
{SB 1954 Mar PM FS} SB. "Flame Soldering." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 101, No. 3 (March, 1954): 210-213.
{SB 1954 DM PFM} SB ? Practical Finishing Methods. Pittsburgh, PA: Rockwell Manufacturing Company, Delta Power Tool Division, 1954.
This is a later edition of {SB 1940 DM PFM}. This 1954 edition, though frequently listed by booksellers as by Sam Brown, nowhere contains his name.
{SB 1954 Oct PM RIR} SB. "Rivet It Right." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 102, No. 4 (October, 1954): 237-241.
{SB 1954 PM THMS} SB. "Try Your Hand At Metal Spinning." (" Popular Mechanics Plan X420A.) 1954. 5 pages.
{SB 1955 Nov PM GLT} SB. "Grinding Lathe Tools." Popular Mechanics Vol. 104, No. 5 (November 1955): 214-216.
MAYBE {Anon. 1955 ES CS} Anon. Collimating Systems. Project No. 9047. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1955.
This work is anonymous. One page (p. 5, "Direct-Reading Angular Scale Collimator Target") is clearly in the style of SB (and quite different from the rest). The rest may or may not be.
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
MAYBE {Anon. 1955 ES CPL} Anon. How to Condense and Project Light. Project No. 9044. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1955.
This work is anonymous, but in the style of SB. Worldcat lists three later printings or editions after SB's death (1979, 1988, 1995).
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
{SB 1957 May PM MAC} SB. "Milling with Angular Cutters." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 107 No. 5 (May, 1957): 210-212.
{SB 1958 Oct PM CWMS} SB. "Contour Work with a Metal Shaper." Popular Mechanics. Vol. 110, No. 4 (October, 1958): 218-221.
For sources see CircuitousRoot Metal Shaper Literature Notebook.
{SB 1958 PM TR} SB. "Turning a Radius." Popular Mechanics Vol. 110, No. 6 (December, 1958): 193-196.
{SB 1961 ES OP} SB. How to Build Opaque Projectors. Popular Optics Library No. 9314. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1961.
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
This same file has been mirrored on Make magazine's website at: http://makezine.com/go/opaque
MAYBE {Anon. 1963 ES TYCB} Anon. Telescopes You Can Build. Popular Optics Library No. 9065. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1963.
This work is anonymous, but in the style of SB.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
Worldcat and the 1975 edition's copyright page list two editions:
{SB 1964 ES HT} SB, Ed. Homebuilt Telescopes. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1964. Book No. 9066. 32pp + [inside of front and back covers].
Robert Edmund is not named on this edition. Sam Brown is named as editor.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
There was also an "Information and Instructions Insert for Booklet No. 9066". The copy of this insert that I've seen is dated "Rev 3/74" and has a printing code of "731041-1 end".
Editions:
MAYBE {Anon. 1966 ES CLK} Anon. What to Make with Edmund Chipped Lenses. (No. 2 Optics Kit) Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1966.
This work is anonymous, but in the style of SB.
Rev. 5/79, printing code "701030-1 Rev. 5/79 2M" is available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
{SB 1966 ES TO} SB, Ed. Telescope Optics. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific, 1966. Book No. 9074.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
{SB 1967 ES} SB. All About Telescopes. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1967. LC: 67-31540.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
{SB 1968 ES GRT} Edmund, N. W. and SB, Graphical Ray Tracing. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1968. Book No. 9083. 19pp.
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
MAYBE {Anon. 1970 ES FWO} Fun with Optics. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1970. Popular Optics Library No. 9050.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
Worldcat lists several editions:
{SB 1970 ES OB} Edmund, N. W. and SB. The Optical Bench. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1970. Book No. 9085.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
MAYBE {Anon. 1972 ES ODD} Anon. How to Build Optical Drawing Devices. Popular Optics Library No. 9059. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1972.
This work is anonymous, but in the style of SB. The date given here, 1972, is from the only Worldcat listing for this book. I suspect, however, that it is in fact earlier
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
{SB 1974 ES} Edmund Mag 5 Star Atlas. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1975 [© 1974]
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
{Amicus 2014} says that this was the last completed work by Brown for Edmund Scientific.
{SB 1976 ES HRT} SB. Homebuilt Reflector Telescopes. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1964. Book No. 9066. 36pp.
Robert Edmund is not named on this edition. Sam Brown is named as the author (not just the editor, as he was in the 1964 edition).
My date for this is based on its entry in Worldcat (the digitization I've seen does not bear a date). Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
A digitization of this was once online.
There was also an "Information and Instructions Insert for Booklet No. 9066". The copy of this insert that I've seen is dated "Rev 3/74" and has a printing code of "731041-1 end".
Editions:
{SB 1977 ES} Dickinson, Terence and SB. Edmund Sky Guide. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., 1977.
Not on the Anchor Optics documents page.
{Amicus 2014} says that Brown was at work on this at the time of his death in 1976.
{SB JR 1993 UPH} Brown, Sam and Joshua Rose. How to Use Abrasive Tools and Files. (1993) 102 pages.
This shows up in Google Books and ebay listings, with incomplete bibliographic information. It sounds very much like a reprint from the former Lindsay Publications. (Joshua Rose was a 19th century technical writer.) However, the Google Books entry for it lists the publisher as "University Publishing House, Incorporated, 1993". Google gives an ISBN of: 1877767948. It is not listed in Worldcat.
MAYBE {Anon. [undated] ES TF} Anon. Telescope Finders. Popular Optics Library No. 9051. Barrington, NJ: Edmund Scientific Co., [undated].
This work is anonymous, but in the style of SB. Not listed in Worldcat.
Available on the Anchor Optics site: http://www.anchoroptics.com/documents/
{Amicus 2014} "amicus sidera" [username]. [Posting in the thread "All About Telescopes by Sam Brown" on the "Cloudy Nights" online forum.] 2014-10-14. Online at: http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/478975-all-about-telescopes-by-sam-brown/
{AncientFaces LB} An entry for "Lela Brown (1910-2003)" in the "AncientFaces" online genealogy website. It cites the US Social Security Death Index as the source for its record of her dates, age, and last residence. Accessed Sept. 2015. Online at: http://www.ancientfaces.com/person/lela-brown/34347943
{AncientFaces SB} An entry for "Sam Brown (1906-1976)" in the "AncientFaces" online genealogy website. It cites the US Social Security Death Index as the source for its record of his dates and age. Accessed Sept. 2015. Online at: http://www.ancientfaces.com/person/sam-brown/36149479
{Copyright 1961} Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 15, Part 1, Number 1: Books and Pamphlets. Washington, DC: Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 1962.
Digitized by Google. The entry regarding Sam Brown is on page 224. It reads:
"How to build opaque projectors. (Popular optics library, no. 9314) Appl. author: Samuel Irvine Brown. © Edmund Scientific Co.; 13Jun61; A507152.
{Flanders 2011} Flanders, Tony. [Posting in the thread "Edmund Scientific and Sam Brown" on the the "Cloudy Nights" online forum, 2011-04-12.] Online at: http://www.cloudynights.com/topic/321079-edmund-scientific-and-sam-brown/
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