El Loro. I have just seen this and although it is sad, he seems to have had a good life. I think he will be sadly missed as he was a British institution.I seem to remember him over the years as being a very educated man, but also great fun. He was on many a variety show with his xylophone.Of course, lets not forget that he had the longest running television show in the world, and our ten year old grandson watches "The sky at night" whenever he can. R.I.P Patrick.

I think he had a pretty good life, doing what he loved, Becoming the longest serving presenter on one show and probably an inspiration to many young astronomers over the years. Sad, but I don't think Patrick would have too many complaints. His place in broadcasting and astronomy history is secured.

RIP Patrick Moore.  He certainly did popularise astronomy and made it accessible for school children without leaving out the science.  Nice to see someone hosting a show who had a genuine lifelong passion for amateur astronomy.  Hopefully the BBC won't use his death as an excuse to fill the time slot with repeats of "homes under the hammer" or another cookery show.

There'll be a new star in heaven tonight......

 

.... and nobody to tell us about it... 

 

RIP Patrick

Farewell to the old bigot. 

RIP

A true individual will be sadly missed

 

Along with Magnus Pike - true eccentrics

Not a big fan of his racist and sexist comments, but I 'm sure he was ahead in his specialist field. Even so I don't believe in it, although all us Aries are like that !

aye!!!   I'm not shedding any tears either Blizz... 

 

I found him to be a thoroughly unpleasant man...  

 

 

 

RIP though no friend of mine.

The music to The Sky at Night - At the Castle Gate from Jean Sibelius' Pellease and Melisande:

RIP, even though you were a crusty old bigot..

ooh heck! I didn't know/havn't heard about him being a biggot.

He was certainly that

 

 

He certainly was... I am even contemplating the R.I.P bit,   but I suppose I'd better, as I would be no better than him with his hate filled rants. So R.I.P and pity you couldn't afford the same . 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...nd_political_beliefs

 

Most of his political views were well known, although I always found his attitude towards women odd - inconsistent, even. For example, Heather Couper has been on TV all day reading from a very nice letter he sent to her as a young girl supporting her ambition to get into astronomy. A lot of the best known figures in British space research and astronomy over the last few decades have been women, and the irony is that Moore probably had a lot to do with that.

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (a real hero of mine, and someone who's suffered more than her fair share of sexism) considered him a product of his time, and has claimed he often said controversial things just to get a reaction.

 

Our heros are never perfect - something which has become even more apparent over the last few months. Stephen Hawking wrote (with enormous understatement) "Isaac Newton was not a pIeasant man". I could never agree with Moore's political views, just as I could never approve of (for example) Newton's vendetta against Leibnitz. However, his contribution to the popularization of astronomy was enormous and I firmly believe it's that, rather than his support of UKIP, that will have the long-lasting impact...

Well, to me he was a good broadcaster and I'm more or less on the other side of the political spectrum to Patrick Moore. 

 

Although he had very strong right wing views, he never used "The Sky at Night" as a political platform like, say, Jeremy Clarkson uses "Top Gear" as his political platform.

 

He was entitled to his views and was never in a position to do anything about them.  I think a certain amount was mischievous attention seeking and playing up to his cantankerous image.

 

He encouraged generations of children to take an interest in astronomy that would carry them into adulthood or even into the science itself.  He could dumb things down to the level of an inquisitive child watching for the first time to fire their enthusiasm but always included the science.  As Eugene's Lair says, there are a lot of women in astronomy and that's in some credit to Patrick. 

Huh?  he was an astronomer not an astrologist.

I hadn 't realised that Newton was such an oddball either. Why would he have a vendetta against my favourite biccy. HAHa! Jim lad!

This fellow: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. 

(Actually, the biscuits were named after him... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leibniz-Keks#Name)

The area surrounding his monument is a very popular picnic area, and oddly enough a stone's throw from the Willhelm Busch museum, dedicated to another great local(ish) guy.

A great post Carnelian, well said