Ian Glass facts for kids

Ian Stewart Glass (born on September 5, 1939) is a scientist from Dublin, Ireland. He studies space using infrared light and also writes about the history of science. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

School and Learning

Ian Glass went to Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. He earned his first degree in 1961. Later, in 1968, he got his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He studied X-ray astronomy there.

Exploring Space with Infrared Light

Since 1970, Ian Glass has focused on infrared astronomy. This is a way to study objects in space by looking at the heat and light they give off that we can't see with our eyes. He even wrote a main textbook about it!

He worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and then at the South African Astronomical Observatory. He has written over 220 scientific papers.

Discoveries in Infrared Astronomy

• Understanding Stars: With another scientist, Tom Lloyd Evans, he found a special pattern for stars called Mira variable stars. These stars change how bright they are over time. This discovery helped scientists figure out distances in space.
• Finding Hidden Objects: In 1973, he helped find the infrared and visible light from a special X-ray source called GX1+4. Later, in 1978, he found another hidden X-ray source called Cir X-1 using infrared light. He saw that it brightened and dimmed in a regular pattern.
• Studying Galaxies: In 1989, he helped show how hot dust plays a role in the light from a type of galaxy called a Seyfert galaxy (Fairall 9). These observations helped prove a theory about how active galaxies work.
• Stars Losing Mass: His work with satellites and other data showed that all older, cool giant stars are always losing some of their material into space.
• Mapping the Galactic Center: In 1987, he helped create one of the most detailed pictures of the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. This picture showed dark areas where thick clouds of gas and dust blocked the light.

History of Astronomy

Besides studying space, Ian Glass has written several books about the history of astronomy.

• Victorian Telescope Makers: This book is about the famous telescope makers Thomas and Howard Grubb from the Victorian era. He got the idea for this book from old letters between Sir David Gill and Sir Howard Grubb.
• Revolutionaries of the Cosmos: This book tells the stories of eight important scientists who completely changed how we understand the universe. These include famous names like Galileo, Newton, and Hubble.
• Nicolas-Louis de La Caille: This book is about Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, a leading astronomer from the 1700s. He was the first important scientist to visit South Africa. He created the first map of the southern sky using a telescope.

Awards and Memberships

Ian Glass has received several awards for his work:

• In 1999, he received the Gill Medal for his work in infrared astronomy.
• In 2003, he won the McIntyre Award for his book about the Grubb Telescope Company.

He is also a member of the Royal Society of South Africa and the International Astronomical Union. He has been the president of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa twice and was made an honorary member in 2016.

From 1984 to 1989, he was the editor of a science journal called "Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa."

He has also visited and worked at many famous observatories and universities around the world, including places in Japan, France, the UK, India, and Australia.

Books by Ian S. Glass

• Glass, I.S. (1997) Victorian Telescope Makers: the Lives and Letters of Thomas and Howard Grubb, Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol and Philadelphia ISBN: 0-7503-0454-5.
• Glass, I.S. (1999) Handbook of Infrared Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge ISBN: 0-521-63311-7.
• Glass, I.S. (2006) Revolutionaries of the Cosmos – the Astrophysicists, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN: 0-19-857099-6.
• Glass, I.S. (2008) Proxima: The Nearest Star (other than the Sun), Mons Mensa, Cape Town (self-published), ISBN: 978-0-9814126-0-3.
• Glass, I.S. (2013) Nicolas-Louis de La Caille – Astronomer and Geodesist, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN: 978-0-19-966840-3. French edition translated by James Lequeux, EDP Sciences (ISBN: 978-2-7598-0999-8) and Observatoire de Paris (ISBN: 978-2-901057-68-0).
• Glass, I.S. (2015) The Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope: History and Heritage, Mons Mensa, Cape Town (self-published), ISBN: 978-0-9814126-2-7.