 | This biographyneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this biography. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Terence Dickinson" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Terence DickinsonCM (10 November 1943 – 1 February 2023) was a Canadian amateur astronomer andastrophotographer who lived nearYarker,Ontario, Canada. He was the author of 14 astronomy books for both adults and children. He was the founder and former editor ofSkyNews magazine. Dickinson had been an astronomy commentator forDiscovery Channel Canada and taught atSt. Lawrence College. He made appearances at such places as theOntario Science Centre. In 1994, theInternational Astronomical Union committee on Minor Planet Nomenclature namedasteroid5272 Dickinson in honour of his "ability to explain the universe in everyday language".
Dickinson was born inToronto, Ontario, on 10 November 1943. He became interested in astronomy at age five after seeing a bright meteor from just outside his family's home. When he was 14 he received a 60 mm telescope as a Christmas present, the first of nearly 20 telescopes he owned. Past occupations include editor ofAstronomy magazine (1974-75)[1][2] andplanetarium instructor. He became a full-time science writer in 1976. He received the 1993 Industry Canada's Michael Smith Award for Public Promotion of Science, the 1993 Canadian Science Writers' Association Award First Place for Science and Technology writing, and theRoyal Canadian Institute'sSandford Fleming Medal in 1992.[3] In 1995 Dickinson was made a Member of theOrder of Canada,[4] which is the nation's highest civilian achievement award. TheAstronomical Society of the Pacific awarded him theKlumpke-Roberts Award in 1996. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Queen's University in 2019.
In 1983, Dickinson publishedNightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe. The book includes star charts, tables of future solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions, planet locations, and other illustrations.[citation needed] The Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society describedNightWatch as the essential star-watching guide for amateur astronomers of all levels of experience.[5] The book has become the world's best-selling manual for amateur stargazing.[6]
Dickinson internationally published twelve titles, primarily through Firefly Books.[7]
Dickinson died on 1 February 2023 at the age of 79.[3][8]
NightWatch succeeds by presenting the universe in a logical, accessible and thoroughly engaging format.
Terence Dickinson, Canada's foremost astronomy popularizer and author of NightWatch, the world's top-selling stargazing manual, has died.
