Daily Archives: 09/12/2012

Patrick Moore RIP

Posted on 09/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

I can’t let the passing of Patrick Moore, amateur astronomer extraordinaire, go unremarked. He died today at the age of 89, the presenter until just this year of The Sky at Night, which has been running under his banner since 1957 – a world record for a TV show. He was the only person to have met Orville Wright, Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong. He used to appear regularly on kids TV when I was small, and so was the man who got me interested in astronomy. In fact I got his book for my birthday round about 1958 (the jacket on mine is long-gone, though I still have the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 1 Comment

Gay marriage

Posted on 09/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

I don’t normally write about sociological issues like this here, but followers of British poliutics may know that the Prime Minister is pushing forward a law to allow homosexuals to marry (rather than entering the current “civil partnerships”) in religious institutions. No church, he reassures us, will be forced to participate. The media report that  the Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and Evangelical (umbrella group) churches are firmly opposed to this, as are the Muslims and the majority of Jews. But, they say, “some churches are in favour”, such as the Unitarians and the Quakers. Or rather, just these two are in favour. The BBC evening news carried an interview with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | 1 Comment