Very sad to hear this.
I only saw Allan once, at the Christmas lecture in 2007 at the Mermaid Centre, in which he spoke of Thomas Harriott and his telescopic studies of the Moon. Arriving at the Centre early I sat with a lady who was clearly a great fan of Allan’s and told me I was in for a treat. As soon as Allan began I knew exactly what she meant as he launched into a passionate defence of Elizabethan education, emphatically denouncing any detractors who had expressed alternate opinions.
An unforgettable character.
