James Bailey "Jim" Kaler (December 29, 1938 — November 26, 2022[1]) was an American astronomer and science writer.

After elementary and high-school education in Albany, New York, Kaler earned his A.B.

He attended graduate school at the University of Michigan (1960–61), at Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Germany, 1961–62), and UCLA (1962–64), where he also obtained his Ph.D. in Astronomy 1964.

Kaler started his professional career with appointments as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Michigan from 1958 to summer 1960.

Jim Kaler has written for a variety of magazines, and was a consultant for Time-Life Books.