Cycling UK Forum

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20657939

Funnily enough I was watching Sky at Night a few days ago and thought he wasn't looking particularly great.

I always found his style rather irritating.

I remember when Baron Archer was in bother - probably in jail as well - Patrick Moore wrote a letter singing his praises to The Times. Any reply risked being defamatory. Another correspondent suggested he was looking at his subject down the wrong end of his telescope.

thirdcrank wrote:I always found his style rather irritating.

Really? I guess it was fairly unique. He was a clever bloke and obviously a nerd before anyone knew what it meant!
Can't say I knew anything of his politics though...

He may have had his quirky politics, granted, a lot of which I certainly didn't agree with. Just like I almost certainly disagree with a lot of you guys' politics! In a lesser mortal I might not have forgiven them, but I can forgive them in Patrick! His legacy outweighs all else - may it endure for ever more! In real life, towards the end of his life at any rate, he came across as an exceedingly modest man, forever apologetic about his increasing frailty.

I feel really privileged to be one of those lucky enough to have visited him, in November last year. RIP Patrick!

In a world of personality television, you need to be a personality succeed. At the inane level, inane catchwords are a winner; in a field populated by very intelligent people, being a mega bof was a good gimmick. His television career endured far longer than most.

Old age can be cruel. My days of watching The Sky at Night were in the era of B & W telly (and if I'm honest, few other channels to turn to.) He was an eccentric then and probably worked on it in the succeeding years.

I remember a school speech day in the early 60's when we had Bernard Lovell presenting the prizes. He gave a most inspiring talk about the start of the universe, and I was hooked from that day on. I still am, and it is sad news today about the death of Sir Patrick Moore.

My mum lives in Chichester, and Sir Patrick Moore was a local for her as he lived in Selsey. He could often to be found in the local newspaper talking about astronomy, and while I am uneasy at best about his politics, I can only applaud his championing of science in general, and astronomy in particular.

He'll be greatly missed. I can't imagine anyone else repeating his achievements.

Jan

As a benign atheist I really enjoyed Patrick's little gathering on the 50th Anniversary Sky at Night. His panel, including Dr Brian Cox (another atheist), confronted by a question as to the location of Heaven,all shuffled their feet a bit and copped out by mostly suggesting various locations within the Solar System. But Patrick nailed it by asserting that it was actually Selsey! I got the feeling that most of his panel were atheists but some didn't wish to publicly reveal their personal rejection of superstition. A quiet smile moment for us atheists.

Al

Well, I hadn't heard about that, but I suspect most thinking people are actually atheists, but many are reluctant to admit it publicly. Time to fess up folks.

Why? What does it have to do with anything?

al_yrpal wrote:As a benign atheist I really enjoyed Patrick's little gathering on the 50th Anniversary Sky at Night. His panel, including Dr Brian Cox (another atheist), confronted by a question as to the location of Heaven,all shuffled their feet a bit and copped out by mostly suggesting various locations within the Solar System. But Patrick nailed it by asserting that it was actually Selsey! I got the feeling that most of his panel were atheists but some didn't wish to publicly reveal their personal rejection of superstition. A quiet smile moment for us atheists.

Al

I am not sure that "superstition has anything to do with it. A person that believes in a God, any God, can not be also superstitious. If anything happens then it is the will of God, not because you walked under a ladder.

The Mechanic wrote:

al_yrpal wrote:As a benign atheist I really enjoyed Patrick's little gathering on the 50th Anniversary Sky at Night. His panel, including Dr Brian Cox (another atheist), confronted by a question as to the location of Heaven,all shuffled their feet a bit and copped out by mostly suggesting various locations within the Solar System. But Patrick nailed it by asserting that it was actually Selsey! I got the feeling that most of his panel were atheists but some didn't wish to publicly reveal their personal rejection of superstition. A quiet smile moment for us atheists.

Al

I am not sure that "superstition has anything to do with it. A person that believes in a God, any God, can not be also superstitious. If anything happens then it is the will of God, not because you walked under a ladder.

I believe that almost every religion is superstition, and I don't subscribe to any superstitions apart from the P* fairy! But as I say I am a benign atheist, if others want to subscribe to superstitions, so be it, as long as it doesn't affect me in any way (like having unelected Bishops in the House of Lords does, that should be canned forthwith IMO)

Al

Having no interest in Astronomy other than gazing at the stars on a clear night sky and enjoying them,I always thought Patrick Moore was a rather ecentric chap who was enthusiastic about a subject I couldn't get excited about.
I knew nothing of his politricks but I'd guess at rightwing Tory imperialist.
One thing that dismayed me that I found out only a few months ago by chance,was that he hated Germans and Germany,even now, seemingly because his fiancee was killed by a German bomb in the WW2 blitz.
I felt rather sorry and saddened that an inteligent man could carry that sort of hatred and unforgiveness for so long and more so against a whole country!

al_yrpal wrote:As a benign atheist I really enjoyed Patrick's little gathering on the 50th Anniversary Sky at Night. His panel, including Dr Brian Cox (another atheist), confronted by a question as to the location of Heaven,all shuffled their feet a bit and copped out by mostly suggesting various locations within the Solar System. But Patrick nailed it by asserting that it was actually Selsey! I got the feeling that most of his panel were atheists but some didn't wish to publicly reveal their personal rejection of superstition. A quiet smile moment for us atheists.

Al

Why,it didn't prove anything one way or the other?

Well, if you are a declared atheist, its mildly amusing watching closet atheists squirming. That's all, not trying to prove anything... Brian Cox and people like Dawkins appeared on an atheist seasonal TV show, they are not shy. I suppose if you are in the public eye you are quite cautious about 'coming out' because it might provoke some bigotry from a minority who have deep religious convictions. It's all about money. I suspect Patrick was an atheist. I wonder if there will be any sort of religious service to celebrate his life? Was there one for Jimmy!

Al