Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2016
The IAU is a union of professional astronomers who produce new astronomical results and who make the frontiers of astronomy expand. However, the IAU cannot stand by itself but needs the support of governments as well as the people. This is one reason why the IAU set up Commission 46 – originally called “Teaching of Astronomy” and renamed “Astronomy Education and Development” with much wider mandate in 2000 – to cover astronomy education from the level of beginners to that of post-doctoral students.