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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."
Not my favorite 007 (Sean Connery FTW) but not my least favorite, either.
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!
A passionate and knowledgeable presenter, even if you had no interest in astronomy his programmes would draw you in. I have never read any of his written work, but will make the effort.
Also, summary missed out one of his other great TV appearances : as 'the gamesmaster', a virtual god-like entity who would dispense hints and tips to those poor mortal gamers who couldn't find their way past a certain end of level boss, or a clue in an adventure game. This showed his fun side and probably introduced a whole generation to his other work. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GamesMaster)
In 1974 I was 7 years old and wrote to him at the BBC complaining that 'The Sky at Night' wasn't on at a time I was allowed to watch it (in the days before home VCRs). I still have his gracious reply.
A fellow of huge significance in our lifetimes, so many of us will admit to having been influenced by his enthusiasm for astronomy and quite frankly his bravery in being himself in a world increasingly obsessed with vain self promotion. This is not to say that he was not dedicated to helping others because he is well known for tirelessly working to help any individual who asked him for help. It takes moments of searching the web to discover that he talked and wrote to countless individuals throughout his life with advice and encouragement about their interest in astronomy.
In some ways he predates the internet in his understanding that direct communication has tremendous value, in typewritten letters and time for people he met. Today we have this great digital channel where we hunger for connection through twitter, forums, email, Facebook and he did all of this with the tools of his era - connect. So top appreciation for being one of the first people in the world to join up the thrill and excitement of those in a fascinating profession with us the amateurs and the interested in space and astronomy. He was doing citizen science before the concept really existed.
And like most interesting people in the world apart from his profession he had other passions in life Cricket and particularly music, you only have to see something on YouTube showing him playing the Xylophone to understand that. Oh and that's the other thing, he obviously had a seriously funny sense of humor.
Do appreciate the twinkle in his eye at the closing words of this recent interview (skip down to number 10)
http://www.philipwilliams.uk.com/characters-on-the-coastline.html
We will be watching that candle and having a chuckle.
Thank you Patrick for passing on the light.
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.
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.
UKIP are a party particularly dedicated to getting the UK out of the European Union and find resonance with a lot of people in the UK who think that the country are getting a poor deal out of being in it. They also cite the European Union rules of unrestricted migration between members of the Union as causing breakdowns in social provisioning because of their unplanned nature. They emphatically deny that their opposition to unrestricted migration is because of racism but of course they do attract support from individuals who are racist because they are one of the few parties who do want to restrict migration.
I do not believe myself that Patrick was likely to be motivated by racial questions. It would not match his lack of interest in class or education that illuminated his support for people interested in astronomy for one thing and another thing is that he was a man of science who moved with the times and would be easily persuaded by the science that now says that racial differences are peanuts compared to politics and culture. Racists in a word are stupid and Patrick was not stupid.
You might argue that it would have been better for him to join a mainstream party and argue for them to make better provision for incoming migrants so that social provision for the existing population was not put under extreme pressure but at the time he joined UKIP any discussion of this nature was being sat on with the racist tag. The mainstream party's are only just beginning to take this issue seriously now. Sometimes it takes a pressure groups existence and popularity to get the mainstream to take peoples complaints seriously.
I don't blame Mr Moore for joining a pressure group, particularly one that just came second in two out of three recent local elections, that's democracy for you, do it by the vote and not the bullet, that's what we do. I am not personally a UKIP voter but I do think the mainstream parties need to take note of the grievances of the people who do vote for them. We still believe in democracy here in the UK and the irritating pressure groups that have reasonable requests and dont encourage hatred are a useful part of civil society. UKIP do not encourage hatred unlike the BNP who are not regarded as a useful part of civil society by the majority in this country.
Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.