OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 09/12/2012 23:13, CD wrote:
The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

He was quite a character

--
David Kennedy

http://www.anindianinexile.com

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Sun, 9 Dec 2012 23:13:01 +0000, CD wrote:

The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

Quite so.
And what other broadcaster would have granted him his wish to continue
until the end? Well done BBC.

As for the show continuing? Well if it is going to keep it's academic
core and not be dumbed down, then yes; but I'm not holding my breath.



--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

Here's the Daily Telegraph's opinion:

The highest possible compliment you could pay Sir Patrick Moore, who has
died full of years and honour, is that he would have never got a job as
a science presenter with the modern BBC.

First, he was too talented – a veritable renaissance man. Sir Patrick
was a handy spin bowler, a talented composer and a virtuoso xylophonist
who played a version of "Anarchy in the UK" in front of the Queen at a
Royal Variety Performance as well as once duetting with Albert Einstein
on the piano.

Second, he knew too much about science – real science: in his case
astronomy, which he had studied with the obsession of an autodidact, as
opposed to the faux science of global warming which is the obsession of
all modern TV scientists.

Third, he had a real hinterland and life experience, having served for
five years during the war as a navigator with RAF Bomber Command. This
was a remarkable feat. Few who joined so early in the war, in 1940, were
able to survive for so long.

Fourth, and perhaps most important, he was so gloriously and
unapologetically politically incorrect. This would have won him few
favours in today's gag-inducingly bien pensant BBC.

He was, in short, the incarnation of the quintessentially English values
which are now being celebrated defiantly by UKIP – a party that Sir
Patrick was proud to support. He will be very much missed.

Bill

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

Yes I watched it last Friday, or rather listened to it. Often the show has a
different slant on cosmological things to the dumbed down stuff you hear
elsewhere.
We really do need to get some sensible science programs back on the audio
and video media that dont talk down to people.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"CD" wrote in message
...
The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries
on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Bill Wright writes:
Here's the Daily Telegraph's opinion:

The highest possible compliment you could pay Sir Patrick Moore,
who has died full of years and honour, is that he would have never
got a job as a science presenter with the modern BBC.

First, he was too talented – a veritable renaissance man. Sir
Patrick was a handy spin bowler, a talented composer and a
virtuoso xylophonist who played a version of "Anarchy in the UK"
in front of the Queen at a Royal Variety Performance as well as
once duetting with Albert Einstein on the piano.

Second, he knew too much about science – real science: in his
case astronomy, which he had studied with the obsession of an
autodidact, as opposed to the faux science of global warming
which is the obsession of all modern TV scientists.
snip

It's a good rant by the Telegraph, which never misses a chance to attack
the BBC, but not borne out by the facts. I've watched many recent
science documentaries on the BBC, presented by the likes of the highly
qualified academics Jim al-Kalil (physics), Marcus du Sautoy (maths) and
Brian Cox (astronomy), where (hardly surprisingly given the subject
matter) there has been no mention of global warming. In fact I would
suggest that this is something of a golden age for the science
documentary, as there seem to have been more in the last couple of years
than I can ever remember. (Though there has never been a series as good
as Jacob Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man", which I am old enough to have
watched when it was broadcast some thirty or forty years ago.)

But I mustn't let myself be side-tracking from saying what a great
presenter and character Sir Patrick was.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

I'm not usually terribly impressed when a regional newsroom follows up
a national story, adding nothing to what has already been reported.

However, full marks to BBC South last night, who paid their own
tribute to Patrick, and used their own archive, with vox-pops of
Selsey residents recorded yesterday.

There was poignant sign off from Roger Finn at the end of the bulletin too.

A couple of my colleagues had the pleasure of meeting him a few years
ago, and my grandmother who worked in a sweetshop
in Chichester during the 60s and 70s, would often serve him.

They all said what a lovely, genuine chap he was.

RIP Patrick


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:56:10 +0000, Mark Carver wrote:

However, full marks to BBC South last night, who paid their own
tribute to Patrick, and used their own archive, with vox-pops of
Selsey residents recorded yesterday.

Thaks for the heads up I shall seek it out on the iplayer. No doubt the BBC
will have a tribute soon.
Chris Lintott was on BBC Breakfast this morning & Brian May should have
been on by now as I type. Reading the twitter tributes I see the pair of
them were with him at the end.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Sun, 9 Dec 2012 23:13:01 +0000, CD wrote:

A broadcasting legend.

Although broadcast last year I think the 700th TSAN was a fitting tribute,
a bunch of famous scientists - including Brians Cox & May, astronomers & an
impressionist (he is a genuine enthusiast) all saying how it was Patrick
that got them into science in the first place. In 3 parts on youtube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2NdMXvXfNU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=whgambsm384

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfhWBt9YynU

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
Here's the Daily Telegraph's opinion:


Fourth, and perhaps most important, he was so gloriously and
unapologetically politically incorrect. This would have won him few
favours in today's gag-inducingly bien pensant BBC.

He was, in short, the incarnation of the quintessentially English values
which are now being celebrated defiantly by UKIP – a party that Sir
Patrick was proud to support. He will be very much missed.


I'm surprised that we haven't had your arch nemesis 'Sheila' (aka young
Jamie?) foaming at the mouth and berating you as a racist for having
admiration towards such a man.

"He was an opponent of fox hunting and blood sports in general, he was also
a strong Eurosceptic and an admirer of Enoch Powell. In the 1970s, he held a
staunch anti-immigration position, and was Chairman of an entity named the
United Country Party before its merger with the New Britain Party."

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Bill Wright writes:
Here's the Daily Telegraph's opinion:
snip

I've just read my own copy of the paper, and can't find the quoted bit
in either the news story, the obituary or the piece in the leader
column. Perhaps it only appears in the online edition?
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:42:58 -0000, "Rick" wrote:



"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
Here's the Daily Telegraph's opinion:


Fourth, and perhaps most important, he was so gloriously and
unapologetically politically incorrect. This would have won him few
favours in today's gag-inducingly bien pensant BBC.

He was, in short, the incarnation of the quintessentially English values
which are now being celebrated defiantly by UKIP - a party that Sir
Patrick was proud to support. He will be very much missed.


I'm surprised that we haven't had your arch nemesis 'Sheila' (aka young
Jamie?) foaming at the mouth and berating you as a racist for having
admiration towards such a man.

"He was an opponent of fox hunting and blood sports in general, he was
also
a strong Eurosceptic and an admirer of Enoch Powell. In the 1970s, he held
a
staunch anti-immigration position, and was Chairman of an entity named the
United Country Party before its merger with the New Britain Party."

and hated foreigners, was anti-EEC.

He spent part of the war as a bomber navigator, but hated the Germans
because his girl friend was killed in bombing raid on London.


Lied about his age to enlist and was prepared to put his life on the line in
defence of this country, doing a job in which life expectancy wasn't usually
very long, I'd take people of his ilk any day over our waste of time
politicians whose policies have been deliberately overseeing the destruction
of these islands for the last 60 years, little wonder he despised them so
much.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:49:58 +0100, Martin wrote:

He spent part of the war as a bomber navigator, but hated the Germans
because his girl friend was killed in bombing raid on London.

On the subject of the loss of his fiance:

¡We didn¢t have enough time. And now we¢re making friends with the Germans.
If I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I¢d push it down.
There may be good, courteous, friendly Germans, but I haven¢t met them.¢

Don't beat about the bush PM, say what you think!

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
CD writes:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:49:58 +0100, Martin wrote:

He spent part of the war as a bomber navigator, but hated the Germans
because his girl friend was killed in bombing raid on London.

On the subject of the loss of his fiance:

¡We didn‚t have enough time. And now we‚re making friends with the Germans.
If I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I‚d push it down.
There may be good, courteous, friendly Germans, but I haven‚t met them.‚

Don't beat about the bush PM, say what you think!

It doesn't sound as though he was too courteous and friendly to any
Germans that he met!
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article , CD
wrote:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:49:58 +0100, Martin wrote:

He spent part of the war as a bomber navigator, but hated the Germans
because his girl friend was killed in bombing raid on London.

On the subject of the loss of his fiance:

¡We didn¢t have enough time. And now we¢re making friends with the
Germans. If I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I¢d push
it down. There may be good, courteous, friendly Germans, but I haven¢t
met them.¢

Don't beat about the bush PM, say what you think!

in the first half (or much of it) of the 20th century, the Germans were our
eneny. Before then they helped us beat the French at Waterloo.

I've met many courteous Germans - I've also met arrogant ones. Much like
the English.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Rick wrote:
I'm surprised that we haven't had your arch nemesis 'Sheila' (aka young
Jamie?) foaming at the mouth and berating you as a racist for having
admiration towards such a man.

"He was an opponent of fox hunting and blood sports in general, he was
also a strong Eurosceptic and an admirer of Enoch Powell. In the 1970s,
he held a staunch anti-immigration position, and was Chairman of an
entity named the United Country Party before its merger with the New
Britain Party."

[Extract from Wiki]

Proudly declaring himself to be English (rather than British) with "not
the slightest wish to integrate with anybody",[60] he stated his
admiration for controversial former MP Enoch Powell.[64] Moore devoted an
entire chapter ("The Weak Arm of the Law") of his autobiography to
denouncing modern British society, particularly "motorist-hunting"
policemen, sentencing policy, as well as the Race Relations Act, Sex
Discrimination Act and the "Thought Police/Politically Correct
Brigade".[65] He later wrote that "homosexuals are mainly responsible for
the spreading of AIDS (the Garden of Eden is home of Adam and Eve, not
Adam and Steve)".[66] He cited his opposition to blood sports and capital
punishment to dispute claims that he had radical ultra right-wing
views.[60]

In an interview with Radio Times, he provocatively asserted that the BBC
was being "ruined by women", commenting that: "The trouble is that the BBC
now is run by women and it shows: soap operas, cooking, quizzes,
kitchen-sink plays. You wouldn't have had that in the golden days." In
response, a BBC spokeswoman described Moore as being one of TV's
best-loved figures and remarked that his "forthright" views were "what we
all love about him".[67] In his June 2002 appearance on Room 101 he
banished female news readers into Room 101.[68]

I may be accused of being a dinosaur, but I would remind you that
dinosaurs ruled the Earth for a very long time."

˜Moore responds to those who criticise his Euro-sceptic and right-wing
beliefs.[69]

He was an opponent of fox hunting and blood sports.[70] Though not a
vegetarian, he stated that he held "a deep contempt for people who go out
to kill merely to amuse themselves."[71] He was a lifelong animal lover,
actively supporting many animal welfare charities (particularly Cats
Protection). He had a particular affinity for cats and stated that "a
catless house is a soulless house".[72]

--
*I finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 01:20:46 -0000, Graham. wrote:

On Sun, 9 Dec 2012 23:13:01 +0000, CD wrote:

The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN
carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

Quite so.
And what other broadcaster would have granted him his wish to continue
until the end? Well done BBC.

They didn't with Alistair Cooke.


As for the show continuing? Well if it is going to keep it's academic
core and not be dumbed down, then yes; but I'm not holding my breath.





--
[dash dash space newline 4line sig]

Money/Life question

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

Stanley Daniel de Liver wrote:

Graham. wrote:

what other broadcaster would have granted him his wish to continue
until the end? Well done BBC.

They didn't with Alistair Cooke.

ISTR that was his choice, and taken within a few weeks of his death.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article , John Hall wrote:
In fact I would
suggest that this is something of a golden age for the science
documentary,

gasp!

as there seem to have been more in the last couple of years
than I can ever remember.

Oh I see. You're talking about quantity, not quality.

Rod.
--

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:49:58 +0100, Martin wrote:

and hated foreigners, was anti-EEC.

He spent part of the war as a bomber navigator, but hated the Germans
because his girl friend was killed in bombing raid on London.

Hypocritical old ****, in other words.
I wonder how many peoples' girlfriends he killed?

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:45:23 +0100, Martin wrote:

I've met many courteous Germans - I've also met arrogant ones. Much like
the English.

I've met and worked with many good, courteous, friendly Germans and a
few arrogant ones.

Ding. In fact, the vast majority of Germans I've met have been
friendly and courteous and even most of the unfriendly ones had good
manners.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 09/12/2012 23:13, CD wrote:
The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.


i'm always annoyed that they cancel top of the pops for it once a month
- are the bbc 4 schedules really that crammed?


--
Gareth.
That fly.... Is your magic wand.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

TOTP has no place on a supposedly thinking man's channel such as BBC4.
I wish they'd stop subconsciously equating old = thinking and filling
the channel with dross that no-one of any intellectual credibility
used to watch when it was first broadcast (unless, perhaps, it was to
take the p*ss) let alone now.

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:30:10 +0000, the dog from that film you saw
wrote:

i'm always annoyed that they cancel top of the pops for it once a month
- are the bbc 4 schedules really that crammed?
--
================================================== =======
Please always reply to ng as the email in this post's
header does not exist. Or use a contact address at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 10/12/2012 13:04, Java Jive wrote:
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:30:10 +0000, the dog from that film you saw
wrote:

i'm always annoyed that they cancel top of the pops for it once a
month are the bbc 4 schedules really that crammed?

TOTP has no place on a supposedly thinking man's channel such as BBC4.
I wish they'd stop subconsciously equating old = thinking and filling
the channel with dross that no-one of any intellectual credibility
used to watch when it was first broadcast (unless, perhaps, it was to
take the p*ss) let alone now.

Don't worry, any more 'Operation Yew Tree' arrests, and the Beeb will be
stuffing the entire TOTP archive into a Weircliffe

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 10/12/2012 07:09, John Hall wrote:
It's a good rant by the Telegraph, which never misses a chance to attack
the BBC, but not borne out by the facts. I've watched many recent
science documentaries on the BBC, presented by the likes of the highly
qualified academics Jim al-Kalil (physics), Marcus du Sautoy (maths) and
Brian Cox (astronomy), where (hardly surprisingly given the subject
matter) there has been no mention of global warming. In fact I would
suggest that this is something of a golden age for the science
documentary, as there seem to have been more in the last couple of years
than I can ever remember.

Sorry, I have to disagree. The presenters you name obviously know their
stuff, so it is presumably their producers who force them to dumb it
down to an almost intolerable level. And they seem determined to spend
our licence fees on their travel budget, jetting off to another
continent every other minute, whether the story-line needs it or not.

I've just started watching my recording of the programme on the Voyager
missions broadcast on 22nd Oct and the first *eight* minutes were taken
up with telling us about the what other events happened around the time
it was designed and launched, e.g. playing us pop music tracks popular
then, and telling us that Elvis had just died. I didn't give up and
delete the recording at that point, but it was a darned close thing.

(Though there has never been a series as good
as Jacob Bronowski's "The Ascent of Man", which I am old enough to have
watched when it was broadcast some thirty or forty years ago.)

Agreed. Many have said that it was Patrick Moore's books which turned
them into scientists - for me they were probably a factor, but it was
also the excellent radio and TV programmes by the likes of Fred Hoyle,
Bernard Lovell, and Hermann Bondi (as well as Bronowski of course). And
history lectures by A.J.P. Taylor. There's absolutely nothing like any
of these nowadays. So it's not surprising that our universities are
half full of people who just want to get a degree in law, or media
studies, or something equally useless.

But I mustn't let myself be side-tracking from saying what a great
presenter and character Sir Patrick was.

Indeed. I got to know him a bit in the late sixties early seventies,
and found him very good company as well as being a very knowledgeable
and able astronomer. When people asked him about his political views,
he used to say that he was a bit to the right of Genghis Khan. This may
have been a slight exaggeration, but it didn't detract from the
excellent work he did. I've seen some comments about his misogynist
views, but my experience is that he did a lot to encourage both sexes to
get interested in astronomy, and in Sky at Night programmes in recent
years he seems to have included a good many female scientists. He will
be badly missed.

--
Clive Page

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article , Mark Carver wrote:

i'm always annoyed that they cancel top of the pops for it once a
month are the bbc 4 schedules really that crammed?

I wouldn't feel personally deprived in any way if they cancelled Top of the
Pops forever.

On the other hand...

Don't worry, any more 'Operation Yew Tree' arrests, and the Beeb will be
stuffing the entire TOTP archive into a Weircliffe

Soviet-style rewriting of the past isn't good either. Like it or not,
popular culture is part of social history, and regardless of Savile's
extracurrucular activities he did play a significant part in it. We
shouldn't obliterate all references to something that happened in the past
just because we don't like it now. We should be concerned if we see any
sign of this happening, regardless of the subject matter.

Rod.
--

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article , Clive Page
wrote:
On 10/12/2012 07:09, John Hall wrote:
It's a good rant by the Telegraph, which never misses a chance to
attack the BBC, but not borne out by the facts. I've watched many
recent science documentaries on the BBC, presented by the likes of the
highly qualified academics Jim al-Kalil (physics), Marcus du Sautoy
(maths) and Brian Cox (astronomy), where (hardly surprisingly given
the subject matter) there has been no mention of global warming. In
fact I would suggest that this is something of a golden age for the
science documentary, as there seem to have been more in the last
couple of years than I can ever remember.

Sorry, I have to disagree. The presenters you name obviously know their
stuff, so it is presumably their producers who force them to dumb it
down to an almost intolerable level. And they seem determined to spend
our licence fees on their travel budget, jetting off to another
continent every other minute, whether the story-line needs it or not.

I suspect there is some truth in that. Overall I think the programmes made
by the presenters mentioned above tend to be good, but marred by too much
'candy' probably added by the director or photographers.

What does bother me is that the programmes all tend to start from square
one, and assume the viewers are clueless about maths or the basics. We get
very little that assumes the viewers have got even to A-level in maths or
sciences. By the time they've added in the wobblycam and sections showing
the presenter driving a car we end up with about 15 mins of actual science
presentation.


But I mustn't let myself be side-tracking from saying what a great
presenter and character Sir Patrick was.

Indeed. I got to know him a bit in the late sixties early seventies,
and found him very good company as well as being a very knowledgeable
and able astronomer.

I did briefly meet him a few times. My main recollections are of him being
a bit untidy and dropping all his slides before a talk. And of being part
of a small group who visited him for a SAN at his home and encountering
some of his non-astronomy enthusiasms.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Jim Lesurf wrote:
I did briefly meet him a few times. My main recollections are of him
being a bit untidy and dropping all his slides before a talk. And of
being part of a small group who visited him for a SAN at his home and
encountering some of his non-astronomy enthusiasms.

I worked on one of the Apollo mission TV progs in the '60s where he was
one of the presenters.
I asked him if the moon really did always present the same face to the
earth throughout time and got a very detailed reply. Much of which I can't
remember - but basically it wobbles a bit. ;-) It actually says quite a
bit about him that I felt him approachable - with some presenters, you'd
keep your distance...

--
*I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:39:47 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Jim Lesurf wrote:
I did briefly meet him a few times. My main recollections are of him
being a bit untidy and dropping all his slides before a talk. And of
being part of a small group who visited him for a SAN at his home and
encountering some of his non-astronomy enthusiasms.

I worked on one of the Apollo mission TV progs in the '60s where he was
one of the presenters.
I asked him if the moon really did always present the same face to the
earth throughout time and got a very detailed reply. Much of which I can't
remember - but basically it wobbles a bit. ;-) It actually says quite a
bit about him that I felt him approachable - with some presenters, you'd
keep your distance...

That wobble phenomenon is called "libration" and is very helpful to
those conducting amateur EME (Moonbounce) experiments.

I nearly met Sir Patrick in the 80's, he was getting into the lift in
the Grand Hotel (a dump despite its name) in Manchester where I was
the visiting TV tech. I wish I had exchanged niceties with him.


--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article en.co.uk,
Roderick Stewart writes:
In article , John Hall wrote:
In fact I would
suggest that this is something of a golden age for the science
documentary,

gasp!

as there seem to have been more in the last couple of years
than I can ever remember.

Oh I see. You're talking about quantity, not quality.

Naturally the quality has been variable, but there have plenty of
excellent programmes, including those featuring the three presenters
that I mentioned.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Jim Lesurf writes:
What does bother me is that the programmes all tend to start from square
one, and assume the viewers are clueless about maths or the basics. We get
very little that assumes the viewers have got even to A-level in maths or
sciences.

But for 80 or 90% of the audience that is going to be true. We aren't
going to get any TV programmes that only those with A-level maths can
understand, as they would attract audiences measured in the hundreds of
thousands rather than the millions. (I suppose the exception is OU
programmes. I confess that I have never seen any of those.)

Isn't the publisher of Stephen Hawkings' "A Brief History of Time"
supposed to have told him that each equation that he included would
halve the book's sales? In the end, I believe he got it down to three
equations. That must have been 20 or 30 years ago, so it's nothing new.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 10/12/2012 19:04, John Hall wrote:
Isn't the publisher of Stephen Hawkings' "A Brief History of Time"
supposed to have told him that each equation that he included would
halve the book's sales? In the end, I believe he got it down to three
equations. That must have been 20 or 30 years ago, so it's nothing new.

fx reaches up to bookshelf

Page vi: Acknowledgements
"Someone told me that each equation I included in the book would halve
the sales. I therefore resolved not to have any equations at all. In the
end, however, I /did/ put in one equation, Einstein's famous equation,
E=MC² I hope that this will not scare off half of my potential readers"
(1988 HBK edition)

Back to Sir Patrick: He seems to have got on all right with Einstein,
who of course was German born. (see up thread) Though this of course may
have been "My enemy's enemy..."

And on women - Heather Couper wrote to him as a child, and was told that
being a girl was no barrier. Not being any good at maths would be.
Perhaps it was only women as newsreaders?

An on TSAN - was it only my hummy that decided that the last episode but
one was the end of the series, so it wouldn't record any more? I've
just had to get_iplayer the last one.

Andy

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Andy Champ writes:
Back to Sir Patrick: He seems to have got on all right with
Einstein, who of course was German born. (see up thread) Though
this of course may have been "My enemy's enemy..."

Presumably Sir Patrick could hardly have felt that German Jews bore any
responsibility for WW2. (Though apparently he had no difficulty in
believing that Germans who weren't even born at that time should share
the blame!) According to Wikipedia, Einstein was visiting the US when
Hitler came to power and made the wise decision not to return to
Germany.
--
John Hall

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
Oscar Wilde

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:41:44 +0000, Graham.
wrote:

I nearly met Sir Patrick in the 80's, he was getting into the lift in
the Grand Hotel (a dump despite its name) in Manchester where I was
the visiting TV tech. I wish I had exchanged niceties with him.

I visited the old Edinburgh Observatory once and spotted a plaque on
the wall saying that the re-furbed building had been opened by one
P.Moore. I felt utterly humbled and awed to think I was standing in
the same spot as was once occupied by the world's baggiest suit.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On Sun, 9 Dec 2012 23:13:01 +0000, CD wrote:

The highlight of the month for me on TV, & here's to hoping TSAN carries on
in his memory with his supporting regulars.

Just watched his final show, must say I had a lump in the throat as he
signed off, telling us he'd be back to tell us how to get the best from
your new telescope that you may have got for christmas.

A broadcasting legend.

Paul Abel has just tweeted that the tribute programme is tomorrow 10:35PM.

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

"Andy Champ" wrote in message
. uk...

Back to Sir Patrick: He seems to have got on all right with Einstein, who
of course was German born. (see up thread)

Einstein voz not ein Deutschländer; he voz ein Jude! Sieg Heil!

--
Max Demian

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

On 10/12/2012 16:40, Roderick Stewart wrote:

Soviet-style rewriting of the past isn't good either. Like it or not,
popular culture is part of social history, and regardless of Savile's
extracurrucular activities he did play a significant part in it. We
shouldn't obliterate all references to something that happened in the past
just because we don't like it now. We should be concerned if we see any
sign of this happening, regardless of the subject matter.

I fully agree with you. It would be as ridiculous as destroying all
audio and film records of Hitler, no one should be airbrushed out of
history.


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

www.paras.org.uk

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In message , Mark Carver
writes
On 10/12/2012 16:40, Roderick Stewart wrote:

Soviet-style rewriting of the past isn't good either. Like it or not,
popular culture is part of social history, and regardless of Savile's
extracurrucular activities he did play a significant part in it. We
shouldn't obliterate all references to something that happened in the past
just because we don't like it now. We should be concerned if we see any
sign of this happening, regardless of the subject matter.

I fully agree with you. It would be as ridiculous as destroying all
audio and film records of Hitler, no one should be airbrushed out of
history.


I'm sure there are a few of us on here who would find it difficult to
erase "Uncle Mac" from our personal history.

He is of course too dead to be charged.
--
Ian

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

Mark Carver wrote:
On 10/12/2012 16:40, Roderick Stewart wrote:

Soviet-style rewriting of the past isn't good either. Like it or not,
popular culture is part of social history, and regardless of Savile's
extracurrucular activities he did play a significant part in it. We
shouldn't obliterate all references to something that happened in the
past
just because we don't like it now. We should be concerned if we see any
sign of this happening, regardless of the subject matter.

I fully agree with you. It would be as ridiculous as destroying all
audio and film records of Hitler, no one should be airbrushed out of
history.


To take a broader and more theoretic stance, why should we assume that
our present morality is the best there's ever been? Mankind does not
always move forewords. The official morality of the German State moved
backwards, by our standards, as the early twentieth century progressed.
History has many similar examples. Many people feel that there are some
aspects of present day official morality that are deeply flawed, and
inferior to the morality of the 1950s. Please don't start quoting
specific contrary examples. Note that I said 'some aspects', not 'all
aspects'.
Once we accept that the moral journey is not entirely smooth and linear
we should be enlightened enough to respect the moralities of history.

Bill

OT - Patrick Moore RIP
 

In article ,
Mark Carver wrote:
On 10/12/2012 16:40, Roderick Stewart wrote:

Soviet-style rewriting of the past isn't good either. Like it or not,
popular culture is part of social history, and regardless of Savile's
extracurrucular activities he did play a significant part in it. We
shouldn't obliterate all references to something that happened in the
past just because we don't like it now. We should be concerned if we
see any sign of this happening, regardless of the subject matter.

I fully agree with you. It would be as ridiculous as destroying all
audio and film records of Hitler, no one should be airbrushed out of
history.

The Soviets tried that with Stalin, though. I had a school Russian
textbook which came to me second hand. The opening page had pictures of
Lenin & Stalin side by side. New copies only had Lenin.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18