Heather Couper

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Heather Anita Couper CBE (born June 2, 1949) is a British astronomer who popularized astronomy in the 1980s and 1990s on British television in competition with Patrick Moore. She is a former president of the British Astronomical Association (1984-86).

She graduated from the University of Leicester and did research at the Department of Astrophysics at Oxford University.

Couper has written and co-written several books on astronomy and space, many of these in collaboration with Nigel Henbest and made many presentations for radio, television, and in public. From 1993 to 1996, she gave public lectures as professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London. Couper along with Henbest and Stuart Carter co-founded Pioneer Productions, an independent UK TV production company focusing on factual programming. Couper subsequently left Pioneer Productions to concentrate on more general radio and TV appearances.

In 2006 she presented a 2 part radio series A Brief History of Infinity for BBC World Service, produced by Heavy Entertainment. In 2007 she was appointed CBEpopularised in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her work on the Millennium Commission. In 2008 she won the Sir Arthur Clarke Award with Martin Redfern for their programme "Britain's Space Race" on BBC Radio 4's Archive Hour. Also in 2008 she presented a 30 part x 15 minute history of Astronomy Cosmic Quest also for Radio 4.

[edit] Selected bibliography

(All co-authored with Nigel Henbest.)

Is Anybody Out There? (Dorling Kindersley, 1998), ISBN 0-7894-2798-2
Space Encyclopedia (Dorling Kindersley, 1999), ISBN 0-7894-4708-8
Mars: The Inside Story of the Red Planet (Headline Book, 2001), ISBN 0-7472-3543-0
Universe (Boxtree, 2001), ISBN 0-7522-7255-1
The History of Astronomy (Firefly, 2007), ISBN 1-55407-325-1