The Moon: A biography by David Whitehouse, Headline, 拢14.99, ISBN
074727228X
Look at the list under 鈥淢oon鈥� in a dictionary of quotations to realise the
part that our satellite has played in human life from the earliest times. That鈥檚
where Whitehouse starts鈥攊n the Lascaux caves, where there is a string of
marks that are thought to be notations of the Moon鈥檚 monthly changes. He follows
the trail of discoveries about the Moon since then, the theories that they
excited, the revelations brought by the telescope and the development of modern
astronomy. It鈥檚 a well-worn trail, but he plunges off down many sidetracks to
make the journey more interesting鈥攖hough if you are not as fascinated as
he is, this might induce some rapid page-turning. Example: had there been a full
Moon, might the lookout on the Titanic have spotted the iceberg in time?
After a short section on Moon-linked superstitions鈥攁bout its influence
on humans and the right times to plant crops鈥擶hitehouse gets down to a
survey of Moon exploration to date, culminating in the discovery of water there.
It is shot through with regret that expeditions to the Moon ceased with the
Apollo programme, a feeling many share. The Moon is far more accessible now than
it was then. Such an advantageous base for space exploration is bound to be
exploited sometime, and Whitehouse puts a convincing case for sooner rather than
later.
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