Still As Bright

April 1, 2024
Armed with his trusty telescope, aided by lunar maps, and assisted by experts, Cokinos chronicles his long love affair with the moon and his virtual pilgrimage there. Earth's heavenly companion--a spectacular nighttime light, tugger of tides, basis for ancient calendars, symbol and inspiration--the moon has a prominent role in human culture, past and present. Cokinos samples art, literature, mythology, geology, and the history of astronomy in his portrayal. NASA's Apollo astronauts, Galileo Galilei, H. G. Wells, Wernher von Braun, and little-known selenographers (people who study the moon's geography) are spotlighted. For most of us, the physical features of the moon seem desolate, even ghostly. But Cokinos finds grandeur and beauty in the barrenness of the lunar landscape. Much of the book is devoted to descriptions and excessive details about the moon's topography, its craters, mountains, and lava plains, making for sluggish reading. Dispersed throughout the discussion, though, are noteworthy facts, such as that moonlight is much brighter than starlight and impacts the behavior of many organisms on Earth. A passionate if occasionally slow-moving journey to the moon without ever leaving Earth.

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Starred review from January 15, 2024
An award-winning author takes a close and fascinating look at our cosmic neighbor. The Moon is at once near and far, familiar and enigmatic, and it has always been a source of wonder, writes Cokinos, author of The Fallen Sky and Hope Is the Thing With Feathers. The author has been infatuated with the Moon since he was a child, and a remarkable 1966 photograph of the lunar landscape gave fresh momentum to his interest, adding a crucial element of scientific inquiry. Cokinos examines the long history of Moon watching, noting that a poem about it was written in Sumeria 4,000 years ago. The Moon has loomed large in literature, astronomy, and astrology, and its predictable cycles helped to build the human understanding of time. The author delves into the meanings and explanations, as well as the many origin stories, linked to the Moon by various cultures. Of course, the invention of the telescope opened a new avenue of study, and in the 20th century, the focus shifted to scientific approaches, culminating in the Apollo missions and eventual landings. Cokinos has a great time with all of this material, and his enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. In the final section of the book, he looks at proposals for establishing lunar settlements, which he sees as difficult but possible in the not-too-distant future. Regardless, the author believes that the mystery will never be buried by the science. "The Moon is an archive of human feelings and material truths," he writes. "The Moon is more than a rock....Known by reason and held by love, the Moon invites our gaze and our gasps, the sights and breath of awe, the glow and rhythm of dwelling itself." Writing with a clear, poetic voice, Cokinos shows how the story of the Moon is also a story of humanity.

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