Our Moon

Superb: as much a feat of imagination as it is a work of globe-trotting scholarship' TELEGRAPH 'I learned more about the Moon by reading this book than after a lifetime of study' CHRIS HADFIELD, author of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth 'You will never look at the Moon the same way again . . . fascinating' NEW STATESMAN 'Boyle's writing shines, shifting through time and space, science and sentiment; a luminous read' REBECCA WRAGG SYKES, author of Kindred 'An exciting read and a love letter to the Moon' NEW SCIENTIST 'A riveting feat of science writing' ED YONG, author of An Immense World Every living being throughout history, across time and geography, has gazed up at the same moon. From the first prehistoric life that crawled onto land guided by the power of the tides, to the division of time into months and seasons for the first humans, the moon has driven the expansion and development of our world. It has inspired scientific discovery and culture from the ancient astronomers to the scientific revolution of Copernicus and Galileo, from the 1969 Apollo landings to writers and artists, and stirred an inexhaustible desire to know where we come from and how we got here. And as astronauts around the world prepare to return to the Moon - opening up new frontiers of discovery, profit and politics - Our Moon tells the dazzling story of how the Moon has shaped life as we know it, fuelled dramatic change across the globe and could be the key to humanity's future.

Superb: as much a feat of imagination as it is a work of globe-trotting scholarship' TELEGRAPH 'I learned more about the Moon by reading this book than after a lifetime of study' CHRIS HADFIELD, author of An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth 'You will never look at the Moon the same way again . . . fascinating' NEW STATESMAN 'Boyle's writing shines, shifting through time and space, science and sentiment; a luminous read' REBECCA WRAGG SYKES, author of Kindred 'An exciting read and a love letter to the Moon' NEW SCIENTIST 'A riveting feat of science writing' ED YONG, author of An Immense World Every living being throughout history, across time and geography, has gazed up at the same moon. From the first prehistoric life that crawled onto land guided by the power of the tides, to the division of time into months and seasons for the first humans, the moon has driven the expansion and development of our world. It has inspired scientific discovery and culture from the ancient astronomers to the scientific revolution of Copernicus and Galileo, from the 1969 Apollo landings to writers and artists, and stirred an inexhaustible desire to know where we come from and how we got here. And as astronauts around the world prepare to return to the Moon - opening up new frontiers of discovery, profit and politics - Our Moon tells the dazzling story of how the Moon has shaped life as we know it, fuelled dramatic change across the globe and could be the key to humanity's future.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word."--Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE - A NEW YORKER AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes readers on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution. Our Moon's gravity stabilized Earth's orbit--and its climate. It drew nutrients to the surface of the primordial ocean, where they fostered the evolution of complex life. The Moon continues to influence animal migration and reproduction, plants' movements, and, possibly, the flow of the very blood in our veins. While the Sun helped prehistoric hunters and gatherers mark daily time, early civilizations used the phases of the Moon to count months and years, allowing them to plan farther ahead. Mesopotamian priests recorded the Moon's position in order to make predictions, and, in the process, created the earliest known empirical, scientific observations. In Our Moon, Boyle introduces us to ancient astronomers and major figures of the scientific revolution, including Johannes Kepler and his influential lunar science fiction. Our relationship to the Moon changed when Apollo astronauts landed on it in 1969, and it's about to change again. As governments and billionaires aim to turn a profit from its resources, Rebecca Boyle shows us that the Moon belongs to everybody, and nobody at all.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "A riveting feat of science writing that recasts that most familiar of celestial objects into something eerily extraordinary, pivotal to our history, and awesome in the original sense of the word."--Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE - A NEW YORKER AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Many of us know that the Moon pulls on our oceans, driving the tides, but did you know that it smells like gunpowder? Or that it was essential to the development of science and religion? Acclaimed journalist Rebecca Boyle takes readers on a dazzling tour to reveal the intimate role that our 4.51-billion-year-old companion has played in our biological and cultural evolution. Our Moon's gravity stabilized Earth's orbit--and its climate. It drew nutrients to the surface of the primordial ocean, where they fostered the evolution of complex life. The Moon continues to influence animal migration and reproduction, plants' movements, and, possibly, the flow of the very blood in our veins. While the Sun helped prehistoric hunters and gatherers mark daily time, early civilizations used the phases of the Moon to count months and years, allowing them to plan farther ahead. Mesopotamian priests recorded the Moon's position in order to make predictions, and, in the process, created the earliest known empirical, scientific observations. In Our Moon, Boyle introduces us to ancient astronomers and major figures of the scientific revolution, including Johannes Kepler and his influential lunar science fiction. Our relationship to the Moon changed when Apollo astronauts landed on it in 1969, and it's about to change again. As governments and billionaires aim to turn a profit from its resources, Rebecca Boyle shows us that the Moon belongs to everybody, and nobody at all.