Ian Ridpath

Ian (William) Ridpath (born 1 May 1947, Ilford, Essex) is a British science writer and broadcaster made famous for his investigation and explanation of the Rendlesham Forest Incident of December 1980.

He attended Beal Grammar School in Ilford where he wrote astronomy articles for the school magazine. He now lives in Brentford, Middlesex.

He is editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy and Norton's Star Atlas, and author of observing guides such as The Monthly Sky Guide and the Collins Stars and Planets Guide (the latter two with charts by Wil Tirion). His other books include Star Tales, about the origins and mythology of the constellations. He was a major contributor to the Dorling Kindersley encyclopedia Universe.

In 1990 he won an award in The Aventis Prizes for Science Books (in the under-8 children's books category) for The Giant Book of Space.

From 1993 to 1995 he was Race Director of the Polytechnic Marathon from Windsor to Chiswick, Britain’s oldest marathon race which traced its origins back to the 1908 Olympic Marathon. The event was last held in 1996.

Selected bibliography

• Collins Stars & Planets Guide. Collins. ISBN 9780007251209.
• Monthly Sky Guide. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521684354.
• Gem Stars. Collins. ISBN 9780007178582.
• Times Universe. Times Books. ISBN 9780007169306.
• Atlas of Stars and Planets. Philip’s. 9780540086108.
• Star Tales. Lutterworth. ISBN 9780718826956.
• Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy (ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199214938.
• Norton’s Star Alas and Reference Handbook (ed.). Dutton. ISBN 9780131451643.

External links

• Personal website CV
• Rendlesham Forest UFO investigation pages
• Article on astronomical causes of UFOs
• Star Tales – History and mythology of the constellations
• Astro stamp pages