num_pages: 352
description: An intimate portrait of the Earth's closest neighbor--the Moon--that explores the history and future of humankind's relationship with itEvery generation has looked towards the heavens and wondered at the beauty of the Moon. Fifty years ago a few Americans became the first to do the reverse--and shared with Earth-bound audiences the view of their own planet hanging in the sky instead.Recently the connection has been discovered to be even closer: a fragment of the Earth's surface was found embedded in a rock brought back from the Moon. And astronauts are preparing to return to the surface of the Moon after a half-century hiatus--this time to the dark side.Oliver Morton explores how the ways we have looked at the Moon have shaped our perceptions of the Earth: from the controversies of early astronomers such as van Eyck and Galileo to the Cold War space race to the potential use of the Moon as a stepping stone for further space exploration.Advanced technologies new ambitions and old dreams mean that men women and robots now seem certain to return to the Moon. For some it is a future on which humankind has turned its back for too long. For others an adventure yet to begin.
language: None
title: The Moon: A History for the Future
publisher: The Economist