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Still As Bright: An Illuminating History of the Moon, from Antiquity to Tomorrow
An immersive exploration of the nightly presence that has captured our imagination for the entirety of human history.
"When the Moon rises between buildings or over trees, it’s not just a beautiful It’s an archive of human longing, fear and adventure. The Moon is more than a rock. It’s a story.”
In the luminously told Still As Bright, the story of the Moon traverses time and space, rendering a range of human experiences—from the beliefs of ancient cultures to the science of Galileo’s telescopic discoveries, from the obsessions of colorful 19th century “selenographers” to the astronauts of Apollo and, now, Artemis.
Still As Bright also traces Cokinos's own lunar pilgrimage. With his backyard telescope, he explores the surface of the Moon, while rooted in places both domestic and wild, and this award-winning poet and writer rediscovers feelings of solace, love and wonder in the midst of loss and change.
Simultaneously steeped in rigorous cultural and scientific history, as well as memoir, Still As Bright is a thoughtful, deeply moving, evergreen natural history. It takes readers on a lyrical journey that spans the human understanding of our closest celestial neighbor, whose multi-faceted appeal has worked on witches, scientists, poets, engineers and even billionaires.
Still As Bright is a must-read for anyone who has ever looked up into the night sky in awe and wonder. Readers will never look at the Moon the same way again.
"When the Moon rises between buildings or over trees, it’s not just a beautiful It’s an archive of human longing, fear and adventure. The Moon is more than a rock. It’s a story.”
In the luminously told Still As Bright, the story of the Moon traverses time and space, rendering a range of human experiences—from the beliefs of ancient cultures to the science of Galileo’s telescopic discoveries, from the obsessions of colorful 19th century “selenographers” to the astronauts of Apollo and, now, Artemis.
Still As Bright also traces Cokinos's own lunar pilgrimage. With his backyard telescope, he explores the surface of the Moon, while rooted in places both domestic and wild, and this award-winning poet and writer rediscovers feelings of solace, love and wonder in the midst of loss and change.
Simultaneously steeped in rigorous cultural and scientific history, as well as memoir, Still As Bright is a thoughtful, deeply moving, evergreen natural history. It takes readers on a lyrical journey that spans the human understanding of our closest celestial neighbor, whose multi-faceted appeal has worked on witches, scientists, poets, engineers and even billionaires.
Still As Bright is a must-read for anyone who has ever looked up into the night sky in awe and wonder. Readers will never look at the Moon the same way again.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2024
23 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Cokinos
12 books8 followersChristopher Cokinos is the author of Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds and The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars, both from Tarcher/Penguin. The winner of a Whiting Award, Cokinos has traveled across the world, from Greenland to Antarctica, in search of the stories of science and history that inform his writing. Committed to weaving memoir into research-driven narratives, Cokinos loves to explore the connections between lives and landscapes. With his partner the writer Kathe Lison, Cokinos lives along the Blacksmith Fork River in northern Utah.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 22, 2024
Christopher Cokinos has penned a deeply inspirational, entertaining and informative book about the Moon. In it he highlights everything from how the motions of the Moon influenced early timekeeping, his personal telescopic voyages observing the Moon, the controversial Lunar Transient Phenomena, the Apollo missions and how the Moon may be explored (or even exploited) in the near future. This is my favorite non-fiction read of 2024 and certainly deserves to have more reviews, ratings and readers.
June 3, 2024
There have been plenty of books about the moon, science books about lunar science, history books about the Apollo landings, science fiction books full of moon adventures, poetry books full of stale romantic cliches. Do we really need another moon book? Yes, if it is as unique and personal as this one.
In his youth Christopher Cokinos fell in love with the moon through his backyard telescope, and he has been devoted to observing and appreciating the moon ever since. In the finale of this book he goes to Mt. Wilson Observatory (where Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is expanding) and gazes through its famous telescope at the moon and is delighted to see his favorite landscapes more intimately than ever. This book is the trackway of his long fascination with the moon. It's a personal journey, sometimes quite poetic. He explores ancient lore about the moon, evolving scientific ideas about it, moon artwork, and the subculture of amateur astronomers. He brings lunar science to life, including an entire chapter on the still controversial topic of Transient Lunar Phenomena--reports of lights flickering from craters: are they outgassing, or equipment or visual flaws? He meets and talks with Apollo astronauts about their experiences on the moon, some quite thoughtful, and sorts through the pluses and minuses of space exploration, including future plans. The best thing about this book is its sense of wonder, with the moon prompting us to see and live more fully.
In his youth Christopher Cokinos fell in love with the moon through his backyard telescope, and he has been devoted to observing and appreciating the moon ever since. In the finale of this book he goes to Mt. Wilson Observatory (where Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is expanding) and gazes through its famous telescope at the moon and is delighted to see his favorite landscapes more intimately than ever. This book is the trackway of his long fascination with the moon. It's a personal journey, sometimes quite poetic. He explores ancient lore about the moon, evolving scientific ideas about it, moon artwork, and the subculture of amateur astronomers. He brings lunar science to life, including an entire chapter on the still controversial topic of Transient Lunar Phenomena--reports of lights flickering from craters: are they outgassing, or equipment or visual flaws? He meets and talks with Apollo astronauts about their experiences on the moon, some quite thoughtful, and sorts through the pluses and minuses of space exploration, including future plans. The best thing about this book is its sense of wonder, with the moon prompting us to see and live more fully.
March 3, 2026
This book is bizarre, but still very good. The title is somewhat misleading. It's not really a history of the moon. It's more of a personal history of the author's telescopic mapping of the moon mixed with interesting details about lunar mapping and exploration.
There's some material about humanity's connection to the moon--historical perspectives, mythology surrounding it, artistic inspiration is has provided, but most of the book is not about that sort of thing.
The title makes it seem like the book would be organized chronologically, but it is a bit all over the place. And the information can be very unbalanced--there are exhausting portions of the book about the minute geographic features of the moon, inch by inch descriptions of obscure sections of the face of it that come up fairly often. There is a nearly day to day, hour to hour description of the training and execution of the Apollo 15 Mission, when the Apollo 11 Mission and the rest of the NASA exploration program barely receives any attention. There's a chapter that explores the use of labor in concentration camps to put together missiles for the Germans. There's a lot of material about the author coming to terms with the death of his father and his difficult childhood.
Despite the flaws, this book contains some beautiful writing, and insightful ideas. It filled me with a genuine sense of wonder at the moon, and a life-affirming sense of gratitude for being able to feel connected to the universe and all living things.
It is long, and can be tedious, but worth the read for the moments of beauty an magic it contains.
There's some material about humanity's connection to the moon--historical perspectives, mythology surrounding it, artistic inspiration is has provided, but most of the book is not about that sort of thing.
The title makes it seem like the book would be organized chronologically, but it is a bit all over the place. And the information can be very unbalanced--there are exhausting portions of the book about the minute geographic features of the moon, inch by inch descriptions of obscure sections of the face of it that come up fairly often. There is a nearly day to day, hour to hour description of the training and execution of the Apollo 15 Mission, when the Apollo 11 Mission and the rest of the NASA exploration program barely receives any attention. There's a chapter that explores the use of labor in concentration camps to put together missiles for the Germans. There's a lot of material about the author coming to terms with the death of his father and his difficult childhood.
Despite the flaws, this book contains some beautiful writing, and insightful ideas. It filled me with a genuine sense of wonder at the moon, and a life-affirming sense of gratitude for being able to feel connected to the universe and all living things.
It is long, and can be tedious, but worth the read for the moments of beauty an magic it contains.
November 28, 2024
Beautifully written, but not quite what I was hoping it would be.
July 24, 2024
I am reading this as it is The Planetary Society July Book Club pick! "Still as Bright" by Christopher Cokinos.
Wonderful explanation of both the mythology and historical presence of the moon and those who observed and explored it. Interwoven is the emotional connection of the poet author and it’s sublime impact to him and those who understand its significance.
Wonderful explanation of both the mythology and historical presence of the moon and those who observed and explored it. Interwoven is the emotional connection of the poet author and it’s sublime impact to him and those who understand its significance.
June 27, 2024
I enjoyed the author's voice, but overall this just wasn't what I wanted. there were many beautiful musings about his relationship with the moon. but I was hoping for more of my girl standing on her own.
January 25, 2025
This is a book that rambles from one topic to another. The story could better have been told in 100 pages rather than 400.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews