Clifford Cunningham

Clifford J. Cunningham earned his Ph.D. in the history of astronomy at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, and he is a research associate with the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand. His undergraduate degrees in physics and classical studies were earned at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He has written or edited 14 books on the history of astronomy, and his papers have appeared in many major journals, including Annals of Science, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Culture & Cosmos, Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia, The Asian Journal of Physics, and Renaissance and Reformation. He is associate editor of the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, where several of his asteroid research papers have been published. He is also a contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica, and since 2001 has been the history of astronomy columnist for Mercury magazine. Asteroid (4276) was named Clifford in his honour by the International Astronomical Union based on the recommendation of its bureau the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.