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Ian Ridpath | |
|---|---|
 Ridpath in 2015 | |
| Born | (1947-05-01)May 1, 1947 (age 78) |
| Occupation | Writer, editor, encyclopedist, broadcaster |
| Language | English |
| Notable works | Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy;Norton's Star Atlas;Star Tales |
| Notable awards | Klumpke-Roberts Award of theAstronomical Society of the Pacific |
| Website | |
| ianridpath | |
Ian William Ridpath (born 1 May 1947, inIlford,Essex) is anEnglish science writer and broadcaster best known as a popularizer of astronomy and a biographer of constellation history. As a UFO sceptic, he investigated and explained theRendlesham Forest Incident of December 1980.
Ridpath attendedBeal Grammar School in Ilford where he wrote astronomy articles for the school magazine.[1] Before entering publishing he was an assistant in the lunar research group at theUniversity of London Observatory, Mill Hill. He now lives inBrentford, Middlesex.
He is editor of theOxford Dictionary of Astronomy[2] andNorton's Star Atlas, and author of observing guides such asThe Monthly Sky Guide[3] and theCollins Stars and Planets Guide[4] (the latter two with charts byWil Tirion, and both continuously in print for over 30 years). His other books includeStar Tales,[5] about the origins and mythology of the constellations, and the children's bookExploring Stars and Planets,[6] now in its fifth edition. He is a contributor to the Dorling Kindersley encyclopediaUniverse, and a former editor of the UK quarterly magazinePopular Astronomy. He is also currently editor ofThe Antiquarian Astronomer, the journal of theSociety for the History of Astronomy.
His early books on the subject of extraterrestrial life and interstellar travel –Worlds Beyond (1975),Messages from the Stars (1978) andLife off Earth (1983) – led him to investigate UFOs. But he became a sceptic, a position reinforced by his findings about the Rendlesham case. He was one of the first to offer an explanation for the so-called Sirius Mystery[7] involving the supposedly advanced astronomical knowledge of theDogon people of Mali, west Africa.
He was a space expert forLBC Radio from the 1970s into the 1990s, and was also seen on BBC TV'sBreakfast Time programme in its early years. It was for Breakfast Time that he first investigated the Rendlesham Forest UFO case.[8]
His star show Planet Earth ran at theLondon Planetarium from February 1993 to January 1995; it was the last show to use the planetarium's originalZeiss optical projector.[9]
In 2012 he received the Astronomical Society of the Pacific'sKlumpke-Roberts Award for outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy.[10] In 1990 he won an award inThe Aventis Prizes for Science Books (in the under-8 children's books category) forThe Giant Book of Space.
From 1993 to 1995 he was Race Director of thePolytechnic Marathon from Windsor to Chiswick, Britain's oldest marathon race which traced its origins back to the 1908 Olympic Marathon. In that role, he was involved in a public controversy over the ownership of theSporting Life marathon trophy, originally awarded to winners of the Polytechnic Marathon, which was claimed in 1994 by theLondon Marathon.[11] The Polytechnic Marathon was last held in 1996.
A keen astro-philatelist, he is chairman of the Astro Space Stamp Society.[12]
