Gerald North graduated in physics and astronomy. A former teacher and college lecturer, he was also a Guest Observer of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. He is now a freelance astronomer and author. He is a long term member of the British Astronomical Association, and has served in several posts in their Lunar Section. Other observing guides include the acclaimed Advanced Amateur Astronomy (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and Observing Variable Stars, Novae, and Supernovae (with Nick James, Cambridge University Press, 2004).