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A sidewalk astronomer

Geoffteeth

By Geoffteeth
in The Astro Lounge

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Peter Drew

Peter Drew

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When I was in San Francisco in 1989 installing a camera obscura my client invited John over and we had lunch together. During John's visit to the UK he spent a day at the Astronomy Centre and came to dinner with us afterwards. An amazing man with a passion for salt which may explain why he is so well preserved. :clouds2:

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pajr777

pajr777

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Great program, thanks for posting!

Not quite clear on his alternative model for entropy in the Universe, but I loved his explanation "the universe is made of only three things, H, He and exploded stars" - brilliant :clouds2:

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JamesF

JamesF

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Just finished watching it. I can't agree with everything he says, but what a fascinating man. He struck me as being very much at peace with himself and his place in the universe, which perhaps allows him to be more honest in his thinking than many would dare. There are some nice quotes in the film, too: "The Universe is mostly hydrogen and ignorance" and (of the Veil Nebula) "Give it another ten billion years and it will go to school and chew gum" being a couple of my favourites.

I also liked some of the comparisons he gave to explain the scale of things. I never realised that the Cassini Division is so big that our moon would fit through it.

James

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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I'm glad you enjoyed it, JamesF!

I liked the quote "Once you decide that you know all you need to know, then you have a Degree in Disinterest."

Depressingly, that fits a lot of people I know!

Steve.

Too true. "Degree in disinterest" is brilliant. Often called the "snobbery of ignorance", but I prefer the "snobbery of indifference".

Doctorates in Disinterest can be obtained from the School of Stands to Reason, and the Academy of What Some Guy Told Me In The Pub.

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