Moon
Subtitle: a brief history
By: Bernd Brunner
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New Haven
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9780300152128
Description: Using werewolves and Wernher von Braun, Stonehenge and the sex lives of sea corals, aboriginal myths, and an Anglican bishop in this new book, the author weaves variegated information into a glimpse of Earth's closest celestial neighbor, whose mere presence inspires us to wonder what might be out there. Going beyond the discoveries of contemporary science, he presents a cultural assessment of our complex relationship with Earth's lifeless, rocky satellite. As well as offering an engaging perspective on such age old questions as "What would Earth be like without the moon?" he surveys the moon's mythical and religious significance and provokes existential soul searching through a lunar lens, inquiring, "Forty years ago, the first man put his footprint on the moon. Will we continue to use it as the screen onto which we cast our hopes and fears?"  Drawing on materials from different cultures and epochs, he walks readers down a moonlit path illuminated by more than seventy-five vintage photographs and illustrations. From scientific discussions of the moon's origins and its chronobiological effects on the mating and feeding habits of animals to an illuminating interpretation of Bishop Francis Godwin's 1638 novel The Man in the Moone, his interdisciplinary explorations recast a familiar object in an original light.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-274) and index.
Table of contents: title: Gazing at the moon; title: Moon of the mind; title: Charting the moonscape; title: Pale sun of the night; title: Encounters of a lunar kind; title: Lunar passion in Paris; title: Accounts of genesis; title: A riddled surface; title: Lunar choreography; title: Esoteric practices; title: Spurious correspondences; title: Visions of the moon; title: Before and after Apollo.