[1] He was an assistant lecturer in Mathematics at Royal Holloway College[1] from 1959 until 1960,[citation needed] during his PhD.

[citation needed] He was Chairman of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Adverse Environmental Impacts on Astronomy (1997–2000).

He became Chairman of the International Council of Scientific Unions Working Group on Adverse Environmental Impacts on Astronomy from 1993 till 1997.

[citation needed] He was Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society (1966–1971), then Vice President (1971–1972) and Treasurer in 1996.

He initially researched positional astronomy, before changing to star formation due to the advent of digital computers.