World renowned astronomer Professor Eric Gray Forbes was born on 30 March 1933. He was awarded 1st Class Honours and Ph.D degrees from St. Andrews University, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of London. In 1961, Forbes was a Regional Officer for the British Council, London, before becoming a Lecturer in Physics in 1961. Between 1963 and 1965, he was a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at St. Mary's College, Twickenham. Prior to the award of a Personal Chair in History of Science at Edinburgh University in 1978, Forbes had been a Reader in the Department of History at the University and prior to that a Lecturer appointed in 1965. His research interest was the history of science in the eighteenth century, in particular the work on the development of the lunar theory and navigational methods. Among his publications were a number of pieces on Tobias Meyer (1723-1762). Forbes was a vice-president of the International Union of the History of Science and Medicine, and a member of the International Academy of the History of Science. Professor Eric Gray Forbes died in Edinburgh on 21 November 1984.