PROJECTS: Remaking History
water, which was very helpful for inspecting ship
hulls, piers, and so forth.
When Mather lived, it was unusual for a woman
to obtain a patent on an invention and then
attempt to market the device. But this she did,
and that’s about all we know of Sarah Mather.
The records are sketchy, but we do know she was
born Sarah Porter Stinson or Stimson around
1796 and died in New York City in 1868. In 1819
she married Harlow Mather, a distant cousin of
the famous Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather,
and they had several daughters, including Olive
M. Devoe who in 1868 petitioned Congress for
money to test her invention of a “submarine
illuminator,” building on her mother’s work. When
not inventing, Mrs. Mather was involved in the
publishing of poetry, and near the end of her life
she raised money for the Union Home and School
for New York children of soldiers killed in the Civil
War. Olive was the director and principal.
THE AQUASCOPE OR UNDERWATER
TELESCOPE
This project is fairly simple, and you can
change the dimensions to suit your needs. This
aquascope uses a 3-inch-diameter, 2½-foot-
long viewing tube, but you can change the length
and diameter if you want a wider or deeper
view. Because the air inside the scope makes
it buoyant, you may want to add weight to the
bottom to make it easier to push it down into
the water.
At the bottom end of the tube is a rotatable
mirror which can be adjusted to provide a
straight-through view to the bottom, a 90-degree
view to the side, or anything in between.
MAKING THE MATHER AQUASCOPE
Before you assemble anything, cut these pieces
to the sizes described in the materials list: the
PVC tube, the clear plastic tube, the round piece
of wood, and the round piece of acrylic plastic.
1. With a saw, cut a notch for your nose in the
top of the 3" PVC tube (Figure
B
). Smooth the
surface with sandpaper because you will press
your face against the tube when you use it.
2. Use the electric drill to drill two ⁄"-diameter
holes across from one another in the center
of the clear plastic tube, 2" from bottom. Once
the first hole is drilled, insert the ⁄" bolt and
mark the spot directly across from the first
hole with a marker, then drill the second hole.
The holes should line up directly across the
tube from one another — in other words, they
should be diametrically opposed — and the
bolt should be perpendicular to the interior
surface of the tube.
TIP: Wrap a piece of masking tape around the
tube before you drill, and mark the spot you wish
to drill with a marker. This will make it easier to
start and end drilling the hole without slipping.
3. Glue the mirror to the wood backing piece.
4. Insert the bolt into the plastic loop clamps.
Fasten the clamps to the wood backing piece
with the wood screws. When you insert the
bolt and tighten the screws, the clamps should
hold the bolt securely. If the bolt rotates,
remove the screws and wrap it in tape so the
clamps have a better grip. Next, remove the
bolt from the clamps.
5. Place a washer on the bolt, and then an
O-ring. Now, thread the bolt through one hole
in the clear plastic tube, then through the
loop clamps, then through the opposite hole
in the clear tube. Attach the second O-ring,
the second washer, and the wing nut (Figures
C
and
D
). Using the wrench, tighten the nut
to seal the O-rings against the outside of the
clear tube.
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