Dimensions
129 x 197 x 22mm
The extraordinary history of our nearest celestial neighbour by the award-winning BBC Science Correspondent.
Since the dawn of time, the moon has exerted a tremendous influence over the earth and its inhabitants, both scientifically and artistically. The earliest astronomers expended much energy in their attempts to map the moon and imagine what it must be like to travel there, and globally the moon has a central role in virtually all mythologies, from Amazonian Indians to the ancient Egyptians to the Celts.
Poets, painters and musicians have taken the moon as the inspiration for great works of art. People have worshipped it, sacrificed to it, composed sonnets to it and danced by the light of it. And yet the biography of our nearest cosmic neighbour has never been written.
The myriad stories - peopled with colourful characters like the scientist Galileo, the twelfth-century monk Gervase of Canterbury and the painter Van Eyck - and fascinating science have now been brought together into a single epic tale in this brilliant book.
Award-winning BBC Science Correspondent Dr David Whitehouse explains how the moon was created (and what moonrocks tell us of its earth-shattering origins) and charts the race to be first to map the moon, one of the most dramatic and unexpected stories in science. He examines the recent discovery of ice hidden in the moon's polar region, a revelation that opens up new possibilities for space travel.
Reaching back into prehistory, retelling myths and legends and looking forward to the future, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about our nearest celestial neighbour.
