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Sir Patrick Moore Dies Aged 89
First time accepted submitter Tastecicles writes "Patrick Moore, the monocled surveyor of the sky who awakened in millions of people an interest in galactic goings on, has died at 89. His love of astronomy began at the age of six, and that childhood curiosity developed into a lifelong passion. It was a passion he shared through his program, The Sky at Night, which he presented for more than 50 years, only ever missing one episode due to illness. Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was born at Pinner, Middlesex on 4 Mar 1923. Heart problems meant he spent much of his childhood being educated at home and he became an avid reader. His mother gave him a copy of GF Chambers' book The Story of the Solar System, and this sparked his lifelong passion for astronomy. He was soon publishing papers about the moon's surface, based on observations made with his first three-inch telescope. His 1908 vintage typewriter enabled him to publish more than a thousand books on subjects ranging from astronomy, his first love, to cricket, golf, and music."
I hardly ever watched his show but I feel we're the poorer for him no longer being alive. News reports suggest he knew he only had a few days to live but still chose to present his last show rather than spending the time on preparing. Thats dedication. RIP
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
He will be greatly missed. Amongst his many claims to fame was the fact that during his lifetime he met the first man to fly, the first man to go into space and the first man to step on the Moon. R.I.P.
Smivs on the intertubes!
Also, summary missed out one of his other great TV appearances : as 'the gamesmaster'
He also played a mean xylophone!
However, if you were into space or astronomy as a kid, Moore's books were essential reading. I don't know how well known he is internationally, but in the UK. I can't think of anybody who has done more to not only popularise science, but to show how people could contribute without needing a PhD and a white coat. Plus I believe he made some pretty useful contributions himself, especially with his work on lunar mapping.
A huge loss.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
I read some of his books when I was a kid. I wondered how the hell he wrote so many books. I thought he was much older than 89 when I saw him talking online a few years ago ... Anyway I got disappointed when I found out he was a BNP supporter - an openly racist political party until recently when they claimed to be culturalist not racist (at the time he joined them they were openly racist and didn't allow minority members - a few years ago the British govt forced them to allow minorities). Also, he has made statements anti gay and anti-women comments. I would like to write that off as old age senility, but then he made those comments and joined BNP in his 70s.
You might have a point if he was just some air-headed celebrity who never did anything except appear on TV.
He wasn't, therefore you don't.
This is the man who played duet with Einstein, made the maps used to plan the moon landings, and presented the longest running show in TV history with the same presenter (nearly 56 years!) - and it was a science show.
No sig today...
Really nice comment from Brian May:
"Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one."
He was at one time a BNP supporter (British National Party - racist)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore#Activism_and_political_beliefs
No he wasn't. Where did you get that from??
Maybe you misread the wikipedia article you quote:-
He briefly supported the Liberal Party in the 1950s, though condemned the Liberal Democrats, stating that he believed that they could alter their position radically and "would happily join up with the BNP or the Socialist Workers Party... if [by doing so] they could win a few extra votes."
Also from the same article he spent 5 years fighting the Nazis :-
>>> Moore lied about his age in order to join the RAF and fight in World War II at the age of sixteen,[9] and from 1940 until 1945 he served as a navigator in RAF Bomber Command, reaching the rank of Flight lieutenant. He first received his flying training in Canada, during which time he met Albert Einstein and Orville Wright while on leave in New York.
As to his views on women, maybe you've seen Heather Cooper on the news who wrote to him as a child asking if being a girl would be a handicap to becoming an astronomer and got a reply (he replied to everyone who wrote to him) stating, "Dear Miss Cooper, ...... Let me assure you that being a girl is no handicap at all" and gave her hints as to what would help - Study maths, science etc.
I'll admit he had some old-fashioned views on some things like women in BBC and mass immigration but I don't think those views were things that shouldn't be said even if you (or I) don't necessarily agree with them and I don't think they detract from his good points.
He was at one time a BNP supporter (British National Party - racist) [snip] Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Moore#Activism_and_political_beliefs
Unless it has changed in the last half hour, that article doesn't say what you think that it says. What it actually says is:
[Moore] condemned the Liberal Democrats, stating that he believed that they could alter their position radically and "would happily join up with the BNP or the Socialist Workers Party ... if [by doing so] they could win a few extra votes."
(BNP and SWP pretty much representing the two extreme ends of the UK political spectrum) and...
he remained a supporter and patron of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party until his death.
Note that UKIP is not the same as the BNP. Now, I don't support UKIP, don't like UKIP and am certainly not going to defend UKIP's immigration policies but they're an awfully long way from being the BNP.
Put simply: if someone I knew joined UKIP, I'd argue with them. If they joined BNP I'd avoid them.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
I had the honour to meet Sir Patrick (then merely Patrick) in August 1989, and to be interviewed by him for the edition of "The Sky at Night" dedicated to the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYMfPsqJke8; for anyone that cares, my interview is about 10 minutes into the video). He always insisted that he was merely an "amateur astronomer", but I was impressed by his abilities as a scientific TV journalist: he knew exactly the right questions to ask to make a rather abstruse subject (radio emissions from Neptune) interesting to a non-scientific audience.
I count myself amongst the many who devoured some of his semi-infinite number of books on astronomy as a child, and who then made a career of the subject. A great example of someone without formal training who nevertheless made a great contribution by making a sometimes-difficult subject accessible to the general public. Would that even a fraction of professional astronomers were half as enthusiastic as he was.