Gerard Kuiper was born in Tutijenhorn, Netherlands, in December 1905. His parents were farmers there. The Kuipers migrated to U.S.A. and settled down in Delaware.
Gerard had his early education in schools in Delaware and successively entered the Universities of Leiden, Harvard and Princeton, successively.
He was the foremost planetary scientist in the world during the middle decades of the 20th century.
While serving at the Yerks Observatory, Chicago University, he made many contributions to the theory of the origin of the Solar System and discovered the atmosphere of Titan, the satellite of the planet Saturn.
He carried out pioneering work on infrared astronomy and founded several observatories in U.S.A.
Kuiper initiated the NASA airborne astronomy programme and he was the architect of the early NASA programme of lunar and planetary exploration of the University of Arizona.
The famous comet discovered by him was named Comet Kuiper in his honour.
Gerard Kuiper passed away in Mexico City on the 2nd December 1973.
