How-To: Make a lo-fi spectrograph from trash

In the latest issue of MAKE (vol 24) there’s an excellent article on how to make a $20 spectrograph by Simon Quellen Field that you should definitely check out. Over the weekend I participated in a group led by Jeff Warren of MIT’s Design Ecology group to build DIY spectrographs using recycled materials. It was a fun weekend citizen science project that’s perfect for families. The spectrographs we made weren’t as nice as what you can build for $20, but then again they were built using trash. People have used all kinds of things, from pizza boxes to toilet paper tubes. [Thanks, Jeff!]