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A great idea Nick! And exactly at the right time. This week my school in Australia is moving to on-line teaching, and I was looking for an on-line activity for our weekly lunchtime Astronomical Society meeting today. John Mason’s film of the ISS transit is perfect, particularly as we have had some excellent passes over Perth in the last few weeks. So, thank you to Nick, and to John and Richard as well for the great videos.
Very sad news. I always loved Heather’s astronomy presentations and writings, with her huge enthusiasm and sense of humour. Deepest sympathy to Nigel.
Many thanks to John Chuter for the link to the archive. Having ditched my S&T collection a while ago in a house move I am thrilled to find the magazines are still available. Reading some of the early ones today, it is almost unimaginable that such interesting and in-depth writing was possible in a popular magazine not so very long ago.
Agreed about Joseph Ashbrook. His “Astronomical Scrapbook” is one of my favourite browsing books. Published in 1984, it is a collection of many of his S&T articles.
My view on S&T is that, along with nearly all the popular science magazines, it has certainly dumbed down over the years, and I cancelled my sub some 20 years ago.
However, as a teacher, always promoting astronomy wherever a chance presents, I am conscious of the fact that most students are not ready for the detail and depth of a publication like the BAA Journal. Sky and T gets it just about right for this level of interest. In fact I would argue that it does a better job than its competitors, and we currently use it in our school astro society.
And I do enjoy a number of the articles, particularly the historical ones and the updates on space missions, which, not being able to get to BAA meetings regularly, have often escaped my attention.
One thing I find disappointing. Long time S&T readers will recall George Lovi’s centre spread sky charts, brilliantly drawn and clearly marked with RA / dec. None of the popular magazines now seem to include these. The book of Lovi’s sky maps is still, along with Nortons, my first port of call for checking unfamiliar skies.
My thanks too for making these videos available so quickly. A huge service to those of us who live far away.
Having just finished reading Dava Sobel’s “The Glass Universe” my first choice was the fascinating talk on Williamina Paton Fleming.
Very sad to hear this news. Maurice was a great encouragement to me in the early 80s when I had a Sinclair Spectrum and was learning to program. He was organising a BAA computer user group at the time and welcomed my novice programs at an Exhibition Meeting.
He will greatly missed.
John
Definitely a great meeting. The Christmas meeting is always a big event for me as, living in Australia, it is the only one that I can attend during the year.
Nick, I would like to add to your comments an appreciation of your Sky Notes, particularly the section about the interstellar asteroid. Rama immediately came to my mind when I first heard of the object. Not so sure though about the word you chose to describe Arthur C Clarke’s writing style? I am sure you are deliberately stirring 🙂
Have just located my copy of Atlas Coeli to see if it contained the negatives, but alas no. Looks like Tony’s copy is rare indeed. Good luck in your quest for information Tony.
Fascinating to read of our favourite books, and how much we are all in agreement.
A book I have not seen for many years but which was a great joy in my childhood is Robert Ball’s Star Land, of which my grandparents had a leather bound copy in their bookcase. I have since discovered that Ball was a great populariser of astronomy in the 19th century. I loved the book, though I was puzzled by the fact that it listed 8 planets and ignored Pluto. Clearly Ball had a strong prophetic sense.
Another huge influence on me was Eagle and in particular Dan Dare, whose travels and adventures did much to make me aware that there was a whole cosmos available for study, extending my horizons far beyond what we learnt at school. I well recall the wonderful representation of the moons of Saturn on the front page in 1953.
And of course my shelves are stuffed with Patrick Moore’s books, so much so that I find it difficult to choose just one. Patrick always had such a wonderful way of explaining quite tricky concepts really simply, and a book I often refer to when trying to explain ideas myself in a comprehensible way is his Astronomy for O Level, not a book with lavish pictures or even a lot of depth but I learnt a great amount from it.
Another great explainer who is so interesting to read as well as learn from is Isaac Asimov. His book Black Holes was the first I read which really helped me understand these strange objects.
Arthur C Clarke’s books are all among my favourites. The Exploration of Space, though now no doubt very dated was a great way to find out about what is involved in space flight in the fifties.
Like many others, my most referenced book is Nortons, usually epoch 2000, though I greatly treasure the 1950 edition as well. Even in this on-line age it is usually my first port of call for checking the sky.
Thanks once again Nick for the work you do uploading these videos. As one who lives in Australia and only only gets to one meeting a year at Christmas, the videos are a wonderful way of keeping in touch.
Best wishes
John
Many thanks to you and Nick for all the work you put in to make these videos available. As a member resident in Australia, I get to few meetings and immensely enjoy and value the chance to catch up with the videos.
Personally I only use the mp4s and find them excellent quality, so would be sorry to see them dropped. So, if not too much trouble, I recommend keeping both formats.
Thanks so much for uploading all these, Martin. I have wanted to see the This is your life programme for years, ever since I missed watching it in the 70s in fact. A real feast of priceless Patrick moments!
Thanks for sharing this Jimmy. Classic Patrick.
I loved the effective but polite manner in which he dealt with the questioner who insisted that the Moon did not rotate. A patient repetition, then, still faced with listener incomprehension, a rapid call for the next question. Also fascinating just how clear and well articulated broadcast speech sounds from our perspective today!
John
Thanks so much for uploading this Martin. A Patrick gem indeed! After reading “Far Side of Planet Moore” I was about to email you to find out if there were any recordings of this occasion. This kind of thing shows how much things have changed in recent years. If the Monte Umbe sailed now the event would be on numerous phones and cameras and we would all have seen them. Let us hope that the sense of fun, and the readiness to be a little outrageous, have not changed as much as the technology!
Cheers
John
Loved the programme. Inevitably some distorted facts but most enjoyable, with very good perfomances particularly by the actors playing Patrick and his mother.
One point which seemed way out: Arthur C Clarke says that his novel Earthlight is about aliens occupying Earth during the paleolithic period. In fact it is about a war between Earth and the early Moon colony. I remember it well. Patrick’s comment to Arthur that “It’s a bombers moon tonight” is more to the point as the book is very much coloured by Arthur’s memories of the bombing in World War II.
I felt that the show sounded authentic and really captured the spirit of Patrick. I am sure he would have chuckled.
Hi Nick
Living in Australia I rarely get to BAA meetings and to my regret could not make this one. Being able to watch these videos lets me catch up with what I missed and to feel something of the atmosphere of this great meeting. Great to hear so many familiar voices. Loved the various attempts to speak like the ultimately inimitable Patrick!
Just for the record I had a spot of bother downloading the videos on a Windows computer, possibly because it was on our school network, but all came good on my MacBook Pro.
Thanks again Nick
John
