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80 Not Out: The Autobiography
"Offering fascinating insight into a man who has significantly raised the profile of astronomy among the public, this autobiography of Patrick Moore spans 80 years of social history with wit and charm. Moore describes his research to map the moon, which began prior to the NASA Apollo missions during his undergraduate years at Cambridge University, and was eventually used by Russia to correlate the first Lunik 3 pictures. Moore also chronicles his work on BBC's The Sky at Night , where he began as the presenter in April 1957 and continues today, the show having landed in the record books as the world's longest-running TV series with the same presenter."
288 pages, Hardcover
First published November 6, 2003
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About the author
Patrick Moore
712 books64 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name.
Sir Alfred Patrick Caldwell-Moore, CBE, Hon FRS, FRAS, known as Patrick Moore, was an English amateur astronomer, who is the most well known English promoter of astronomy. Moore wrote numerous books on the subject, as well as make public, television and radio appearances, over the course of his long life. He is credited as having done more than any other to raise the profile of astronomy among the British general public.
Sir Alfred Patrick Caldwell-Moore, CBE, Hon FRS, FRAS, known as Patrick Moore, was an English amateur astronomer, who is the most well known English promoter of astronomy. Moore wrote numerous books on the subject, as well as make public, television and radio appearances, over the course of his long life. He is credited as having done more than any other to raise the profile of astronomy among the British general public.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 20, 2026
A whole generation of astronomy enthusiasts in the UK (me included) were engaged in the subject by Patrick Moore's TV show The Sky at Night. In this 2003 autobiography, Moore concentrates on his career from writing his first book in 1953, skipping over his youth and experiences as a pilot in the Second World War in a handful of pages. It is often fascinating stuff.
A starting point that is remarkable is that Moore had no scientific qualifications. (This comes across particularly in his dislike of the metric system.) He missed university due to the war and decided not to take up a place after. Astronomy is arguably the science where more contributions have been made by amateurs than any other, but few amateurs have enjoyed the respect of professionals felt for Moore. His speciality was the Moon in observing terms, but inevitably his most important contribution was in popularising astronomy.
A lot of the book is dedicated to the various topics covered by his TV show, but I hadn't remembered just how much he was also the BBC's go to for NASA missions, particularly the Apollo programme and exploratory probes like Voyager. His account of his work runs from the serious to an entertaining account of everything that went wrong when astronomy's international body the IAU put on its conference in Argentina.
There is no doubt that some of Moore's views on life in general are old fashioned to the point of being offensive - but they are not untypical of someone who grew up in the 1930s. There was also inevitably speculation about his being a lifetime bachelor: personally I accept his statement that he lost the love of his life, Laura, in the war and there could never be anyone else. However, there's no doubt he was a 'man's man' - probably helped by the male domination of astronomy and space exploration in his era. It's notable that in a chapter describing famous people he met they are almost all male.
What the reader encounters are the thoughts of a true eccentric - the sort of person that the BBC would now run a mile rather than employ (not just because, as Moore would no doubt point out if he were around now, because he was white, straight, old and male). As we have seen, some of Moore's views would now be unacceptable (he was aware of this in 2003, quite often remarking on his political incorrectness). But then, he was also passionate about ending fox hunting. This isn't a beautifully crafted, arty autobiography, but rather a rambling memoir of an unusual life. One of the things that definitely comes across is Moore's kindness - something I experienced in a small personal way.
When I wrote my first book, Light Years, I wrote to Moore asking for a comment to go on the cover. He gave me one - but perhaps more impressively before doing so he sent me three other letters, apologising for taking so long to respond. These were all typed on the 1908 typewriter he used to write all his books. (He notes in the autobiography that he couldn't buy compatible ink ribbons for it, so had to wind a newer ribbon by hand onto an old reel.) When you consider how much correspondence he would have got, this was truly remarkable.
To some, Moore was a figure of fun - an overweight man wearing a monocle, oddly dressed and with a habit of playing the xylophone on TV with huge enthusiasm. But for many astronomers of a certain age he will remain a central figure in their personal development, and this book gives some insight into the man himself.
A starting point that is remarkable is that Moore had no scientific qualifications. (This comes across particularly in his dislike of the metric system.) He missed university due to the war and decided not to take up a place after. Astronomy is arguably the science where more contributions have been made by amateurs than any other, but few amateurs have enjoyed the respect of professionals felt for Moore. His speciality was the Moon in observing terms, but inevitably his most important contribution was in popularising astronomy.
A lot of the book is dedicated to the various topics covered by his TV show, but I hadn't remembered just how much he was also the BBC's go to for NASA missions, particularly the Apollo programme and exploratory probes like Voyager. His account of his work runs from the serious to an entertaining account of everything that went wrong when astronomy's international body the IAU put on its conference in Argentina.
There is no doubt that some of Moore's views on life in general are old fashioned to the point of being offensive - but they are not untypical of someone who grew up in the 1930s. There was also inevitably speculation about his being a lifetime bachelor: personally I accept his statement that he lost the love of his life, Laura, in the war and there could never be anyone else. However, there's no doubt he was a 'man's man' - probably helped by the male domination of astronomy and space exploration in his era. It's notable that in a chapter describing famous people he met they are almost all male.
What the reader encounters are the thoughts of a true eccentric - the sort of person that the BBC would now run a mile rather than employ (not just because, as Moore would no doubt point out if he were around now, because he was white, straight, old and male). As we have seen, some of Moore's views would now be unacceptable (he was aware of this in 2003, quite often remarking on his political incorrectness). But then, he was also passionate about ending fox hunting. This isn't a beautifully crafted, arty autobiography, but rather a rambling memoir of an unusual life. One of the things that definitely comes across is Moore's kindness - something I experienced in a small personal way.
When I wrote my first book, Light Years, I wrote to Moore asking for a comment to go on the cover. He gave me one - but perhaps more impressively before doing so he sent me three other letters, apologising for taking so long to respond. These were all typed on the 1908 typewriter he used to write all his books. (He notes in the autobiography that he couldn't buy compatible ink ribbons for it, so had to wind a newer ribbon by hand onto an old reel.) When you consider how much correspondence he would have got, this was truly remarkable.
To some, Moore was a figure of fun - an overweight man wearing a monocle, oddly dressed and with a habit of playing the xylophone on TV with huge enthusiasm. But for many astronomers of a certain age he will remain a central figure in their personal development, and this book gives some insight into the man himself.
January 5, 2022
A very talented man knowing much about the universe and especially the moon that he made extensive a map about. Not the most political correct views by todays standards, but he was born in a different time when you could speak without the politically correct brigade around. Some of the views are to the point and reading them I thought was very amusing. He was certainly a character that would be great to be around. I found this biography good in some places, but also found parts not so interesting and lost interest in reading. I do not usually skip chapters, but I did in this book, because I was finding it hard to take in the facts. So a good biography, but for me apart from a few chapters I abandoned lots. Maybe a tv documentary would be a more easy way of making his life story more easy and interesting to follow.
February 14, 2013
Some may complain about Moore's racist political views expressed here, or that he constantly teases about what he did during the war while refusing to reveal the details. Also you obviously only get his side of events, and some have claimed his professed modesty is not genuine. But I think the book succeeds in showing exactly what he considered important in his life. It's easy to forget he was the product of an earlier age. He doesn't talk about his emotions in the way a modern celebrity would because he was raised with the stiff upper lip of Victorian Empire. But he is clear about the people, pastimes and causes he cares about. So as an autobiography I think it is pretty good.
A deeper question raised is whether Moore himself was a good man. It's something of an artificial distinction. Real people can't be divided neatly into good and bad: they are what they are, and provided they aren't asking us to vote for them or committing crimes I'm not sure we have a right to judge them. (Especially in cases like this when the judgement is on whether a man's *views* are acceptable, not his actions.) But overall I am still fond of him warts and all.
He wasn't very notable as an astronomer, but his passion for the subject enabled him to present hundreds of TV shows and write hundreds of books. He did a lot to popularise science. If a budding astronomer wrote him a letter, looked up his phone number and called, or even turned up at his door step and asked to look through his telescope he did everything he could to encourage them.
He did suffer from believing the Daily Mail propaganda, whereby fear of the other engenders a mindset of persecution. Given both the personal losses inflicted on him by foreigners in his youth (his fiancee, his knee, all his teeth) and the mass immigration of foreigners into his home country he witnessed in his old age I find this flaw forgivable. He was no little Englander: he travelled all over the world and there is no indication that he practised discrimination against any of his international collaborators. Thus his 'crimes' are really thoughtcrimes.
True he admits to being a lifelong Tory voter, but he was an honest Tory. I would trust his motivations to be far more selfless than any of the snivelling liars from any branch of the current LibLabCon party. (I think he would feel the same about them as I do - one of the few politicians he credits in the book as having any decency is Tony Benn.) Maybe being born into the upper class prevented him from really understanding the struggles of those less privileged, but he didn't actively hate them or try to kill them like Cameron and Osborne are doing.
Also in the plus column: he loved cats, campaigned against fox hunting, despised government and when his friends died he adopted their children. And being the GamesMaster must count for something.
A deeper question raised is whether Moore himself was a good man. It's something of an artificial distinction. Real people can't be divided neatly into good and bad: they are what they are, and provided they aren't asking us to vote for them or committing crimes I'm not sure we have a right to judge them. (Especially in cases like this when the judgement is on whether a man's *views* are acceptable, not his actions.) But overall I am still fond of him warts and all.
He wasn't very notable as an astronomer, but his passion for the subject enabled him to present hundreds of TV shows and write hundreds of books. He did a lot to popularise science. If a budding astronomer wrote him a letter, looked up his phone number and called, or even turned up at his door step and asked to look through his telescope he did everything he could to encourage them.
He did suffer from believing the Daily Mail propaganda, whereby fear of the other engenders a mindset of persecution. Given both the personal losses inflicted on him by foreigners in his youth (his fiancee, his knee, all his teeth) and the mass immigration of foreigners into his home country he witnessed in his old age I find this flaw forgivable. He was no little Englander: he travelled all over the world and there is no indication that he practised discrimination against any of his international collaborators. Thus his 'crimes' are really thoughtcrimes.
True he admits to being a lifelong Tory voter, but he was an honest Tory. I would trust his motivations to be far more selfless than any of the snivelling liars from any branch of the current LibLabCon party. (I think he would feel the same about them as I do - one of the few politicians he credits in the book as having any decency is Tony Benn.) Maybe being born into the upper class prevented him from really understanding the struggles of those less privileged, but he didn't actively hate them or try to kill them like Cameron and Osborne are doing.
Also in the plus column: he loved cats, campaigned against fox hunting, despised government and when his friends died he adopted their children. And being the GamesMaster must count for something.
January 11, 2011
Sir Patrick's autobiography, first published in 2003, is a book I've been wanting to read for a while. Finally getting round to it, I'm somewhat disappointed. The great man of Astronomy hardly touches on his early years and is totally reticent with his war time exploits in the RAF. The book more or less begins at the age of 30. So what is contained here is the story of the Sky at Night broadcasts, Britain's, and the world's, longest running t.v. programme, padded out with the various thoughts of Chairman Moore.
The experiences of the sickly child, whose illness robbed him of a University education is wafted aside as unimportant. The death of his war time sweetheart in a bombing raid, the reason given for his never having married is skirted by. The loss of his teeth at age 21 is unexplained. Moore of this, and less of his rants at political correctness and his misprints in the press. Actually, there is a good misprint in this book, where the Sky at Night's co-presenter Chris Lintott becomes Christ Lintott.
There is no doubt that Sir Patrick is a one off. A self taught astronomer, who constantly tells us he is just an amateur. A self taught musician who played the xylophone at the Royal Variety Performance as well as his cameo with Morecambe and Wise and a keen cricketer for the Lord's Taverners. In 2003 Patrick was 80 years old. It feels to me like there is some forty per cent of a life missing from this book.
The experiences of the sickly child, whose illness robbed him of a University education is wafted aside as unimportant. The death of his war time sweetheart in a bombing raid, the reason given for his never having married is skirted by. The loss of his teeth at age 21 is unexplained. Moore of this, and less of his rants at political correctness and his misprints in the press. Actually, there is a good misprint in this book, where the Sky at Night's co-presenter Chris Lintott becomes Christ Lintott.
There is no doubt that Sir Patrick is a one off. A self taught astronomer, who constantly tells us he is just an amateur. A self taught musician who played the xylophone at the Royal Variety Performance as well as his cameo with Morecambe and Wise and a keen cricketer for the Lord's Taverners. In 2003 Patrick was 80 years old. It feels to me like there is some forty per cent of a life missing from this book.
August 18, 2013
Not so much an autobiography as as series of reminiscences about his career: he famously covers the first 25 years of his life in three pages, and though he keeps mentioning the his RAF service and the fact his finacee was killed in the war, he doesn't tell us anything about it. This perhaps is not such a bad thing - after all it's his career that is of interest, and he is able to tell us something about all the major events in astronomy and space exploration in the second half of the C20th.
Where he does move away from the stars, I'm sorry to say that he comes across as a deeply odd, and perhaps foolish, man. Perhaps the hints he gives about his upbringing explain this: it would be nice to know more. All in all, this made me feel like reading a proper biography of him!
A warning: although he claims not to be right wing, his views on sexual and racial equality should not be read by the faint of heart!
Where he does move away from the stars, I'm sorry to say that he comes across as a deeply odd, and perhaps foolish, man. Perhaps the hints he gives about his upbringing explain this: it would be nice to know more. All in all, this made me feel like reading a proper biography of him!
A warning: although he claims not to be right wing, his views on sexual and racial equality should not be read by the faint of heart!
May 29, 2019
This is a wonderful book. Patrick Moore's wit sparkles from the pages. Yes, he's blunt and definitely not PC, but he came from a different time where honesty was important and you said what you meant. His stories about Mr Twitmarsh and other characters who are jobs-worths without any common sense were great. I wish I'd known him.
What also shines through is his knowledge about the moon and his willingness to take on new things. He is self-deprecating and acknowledges he is an amateur amongst the professionals he worked with. They all appreciated his knowledge and friendship.
I rarely read biographies bit I am so glad I read about this talented man.
What also shines through is his knowledge about the moon and his willingness to take on new things. He is self-deprecating and acknowledges he is an amateur amongst the professionals he worked with. They all appreciated his knowledge and friendship.
I rarely read biographies bit I am so glad I read about this talented man.
August 28, 2011
A good lesson in how to write a biography, I think. The first chapter dealt with childhood, teenage years and the Second World War in a few pages. Then it moved on and started on the career the author is known for. No dwelling on what is essentially superfluous information, just enough of it there to give background.
July 30, 2012
A great book, written by a great character. Would have liked a little more about his early life and during the war though.
February 11, 2013
As enjoyable and cheerfully provocative as any memoirs I have ever read. A fitting memorial to a remarkable and singular man.
March 27, 2014
I live round the corner from farthings and met Patrick a couple of times. A shame this great man has gone to higher places.
September 10, 2019
Sweet biography. Written in the spirit of the man. Gentle; kind. Won’t rock the world but a wonderful tribute to a great man
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews