The Moon: A History for the Future

by Oliver Morton, The Economist

An intimate portrait of the Earth's closest neighbor--the Moon--that explores the history and future of humankind's relationship with it




Every 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 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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Space, History, Astronomy, Audiobook, Popular Science

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2019

Reviews

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most amateur astronomers, as a teenager I found the Moon by far the most rewarding subject for observation with my little telescope. Stars remained just points. The planets showed little detail. But the Moon became a landscape I could explore. Reading Oliver Morton's book brought back that feeling of fascination with our nearest neighbour in space, an engagement that was intensified for me by the book's exploration of the Apollo programme and Morton's regular excursions into science fiction references, most notably a lengthy stroll through Heinlein's classic The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

There's a lot to like here, whether it's Morton's description of the cramped conditions in the lunar module, the consideration of the collision that is thought to have caused the Moon to be formed or the lyrical, almost polemical exploration of the sadness felt by those who witnessed the Apollo 11 landing and assumed it was a beginning of something wonderful, not an ending. There's also a very realistic take on the practical difficulties of having any kind of financially self-sustaining Moon colony.

There are some negatives. Some parts of the text are a little dull - going on too long about reflected light from the two bodies, the thin fact splurge sections and some tangential material that has little to do with the Moon itself. Morton's style can have a portentous tone that veers into the irritating when there seems to be a deliberate attempt at artiness, such as 'Energy comes down from the sky, energy goes back out to the sky, energy makes no difference worth the telling in between.' or 'They have no more relevance to the shape of the surface they sit on than the trace of a kiss has to the contours of the cheek.'

One last moan - I really didn't get the little right justified (hence almost unreadable) snippets of text that now and then cropped up mid sentence for no obvious reason. It just spoiled the flow.

The complaints, though, are essentially stylistic. There's loads of good material in here from a journalist who has spent a lot of time dealing with space topics (even though he's an editor for the Economist). The Moon is usually ignored, if not cursed for being irritatingly bright by professional astronomers - but Morton reminds us what an important part of our night sky and our culture it forms.

[Constantin Beda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oamenii își ridică privirile către cer, în căutarea ei, de mii de ani. Luminează nopțile senine când e plină și, uneori, se ascunde timidă în spatele norilor. În poveștile fantastice vârcolacii își dezvăluiau adevărata formă la vederea ei. Îndrăgostiții o dăruiau persoanelor iubite ca dovadă a afecțiunii. La apogeu, atunci când e cel mai aproape de Pământ, îi putem distinge cu ușurință pe cei doi care o locuiesc, Iepurele și Omul din Lună. Au scris despre ea Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke și Philip K. Dick, între mulți alții. Misterioasa zeiță a vechilor timpuri, care e alături de Terra încă de la începuturile planetei noastre, și-a expus secretele în cartea lui Oliver Morton, Luna. O istorie pentru viitor. Și astfel zeița a devenit un corp ceresc.

Un corp ceresc, satelit natural al Pământului, care a fost atins prima dată în 1969, odată cu succesul misiunii Apollo 11, în care Neil Armstrong a spus celebrele cuvinte: Un pas mic pentru om, un salt uriaș pentru omenire. Și așa a fost. Atunci toți au realizat că cerul nu mai era intangibil și că spațiul le era accesibil.  Luna, care până atunci fusese explorată cu ochiul liber și imaginația, apoi prin lentila telescoapelor și senzorii sondelor spațiale, devenise ceva real, tangibil. Miturile și legendele s-au metamorfozat în piatră și regolit, în vânturi solare și cratere, în frig și pustietate acoperită de praf cenușiu.

Însă asta n-a făcut-o mai puțin interesantă. Ba dimpotrivă. Oliver Morton o plasează în mai multe cadre, de la cel științific până la cele ale cinematografiei, literaturii și artelor plastice. În toate planurile temporale ale trecutului, prezentului și viitorului. Ne povestește cum a fost, cum este și cum ar putea fi. Și nu e nimic exagerat în previziunile lui, reușește să rămână realist în toate ipotezele detaliate pe care le propune. Poate găzdui Luna o bază permanentă? Poate fi un avanpost pentru explorări mai îndepărtate? Îi putem folosi resursele fără a o exploata prea mult? Astea sunt doar câteva dintre întrebările la care veți găsi aici posibile răspunsuri, cu argumente pro și contra pentru fiecare.

Din toate cărțile de popularizare a științei pe care le-am citit - și sunt destule, asta se numără printre cele mai accesibile și atrăgătoare lecturi. Păstrând același criteriu al cărților citite de subsemnatul, probabil cea mai completă carte despre Lună.

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morton’s book about the moon covers a lot of ground, with chapters on human activity on the moon, the scientific facts of it and its presence in fiction.

While I thought it was an interesting read I found the style somewhat bizarre — the prose is lyrical at times and has paragraphs broken up with quotes that interrupt the flow of his writing; they are not introduced or followed up on or given a source — sometimes this works well and at other times less so. The style isn’t consistent either way — there’s one point where he writes how much of a prick Elon Musk is for a few pages. I don’t necessarily disagree, I just think this book could have done with another edit.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed bag, with history and science and science fiction and economics and a bit of politics jumbled into one narrative. In this, the author is not as successful as in his earlier book about plants, Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet.

This history is covered quickly, along with origin theories. The science and facts, largely from sample returns, are also pretty direct. Amongst this Morton scatters connections to many science fiction stories. These references were what I liked most about his earlier book, and I was glad to see it here. These parts plus some gorgeous photos and classic illustrations would be a five star book.

Economics make up most of the rest, as the author shoots down various lunar colony ideas from both fiction and speculative works (e.g. Gerard K. O'Neill). Delta v (for velocity) is the measuring stick here - it is easier to work with any asteroid than the moon in every way except for travel time. He also discusses misguided billionaires and politics, neither favorably. For me, this jumble brings my rating down, and other reviewers seem to agree. It was released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, and perhaps slightly rushed?

I've got one more of Morton's books on my to-read list (The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World), and I am looking forward to it.

[Radiantflux · Rating 4 out of 5]

18th book for 2020.

An excellent summary of what we know about the moon, and a clear-eyed assessment of the likelihood human return in the near future.

4-stars.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been trying to find a very similar book I've read in the past about the moon, which is almost identical: promises science and speculation and instead delivers cultural references. The other was mostly pop culture and this one is slightly more high-brow but it's still not what I'm interested in.

The author has some beef with Musk, Bezos and presumably anyone else who doesn't share his politics. I hate it that authors nowadays feels like I give a damn about their politics or that it's relevant to tell me how they feel. Maybe you should talk to a friend, not put it in a book? Write a newspaper column?

[Andrei Mocuţa · Rating 4 out of 5]

citind Luna: O istorie pentru viitor
de Oliver Morton
aflu că artista Katie Paterson a transpus
în cod morse notele primei mișcări
din Sonata 14 în do minor
de Beethoven
punctele și liniile din mesajul codat
au fost trimise către lună
iar mesajul reflectat
a fost transformat într-o succesiune
de note
citite de un pian automat

mulți autori SF și-au imaginat
Sonata Lunii
cântată pe lună dar
nici unul dintre ei nu și-o imaginase
cântată
cu ajutorul lunii
și reinterpretată prin imperfecțiunile
reflexiilor lunare

o parte din notele muzicale
s-au pierdut
în craterele lunii sau absorbite
de umbrele spațiului
altele au fost ușor modificate
golurile lăsate de notele lipsă
din transmisie
au dezvoltat un tempo nou și unic
irepetabil

suprafața lunii
atinsă de sunetul muzicii
înainte ca omul să o colonizeze
asta da izbândă
și o poveste pe care cred că merită
să ți-o împărtășesc
după o pauză atât de lungă

tot timpul se pierde câte ceva
în orice este reflectat
chiar și atunci când ne privim
în oglindă
fiindcă nu avem în fața noastră
o simplă imagine
ci o prezență vie
stranie
și schimbătoare

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

More literary review than history, this book is a wide-spanning set of musings exploring different perspectives on and issues regarding our perpetual neighbour, the moon. The narrative thread is a little wandering, aside from the titular theme, leaving the chapters feeling somewhat distinct and set alone. Despite this, Morton's unique blend of technologist, literature aficionado, and contemporary affairs critic results in an intriguing synthesis that's worth reading if you're interested in science, technology, policy, and scifi.

The book most convincingly hits its stride in the chapters Apollo, Reasons, and The Return. The Apollo chapter makes effective use of the compelling human narratives throughout the expeditions to create an engaging and purposeful narrative structure that draws the reader in. This is a familiar story but, at its core, it's a /good/ story and Morton's telling works really well. In The Return, we get the clearest view into Morton's expertise in analyzing science, technology, and policy. Here, he explores the emerging theme of private space exploration. It's pretty clear politically what side he falls on (gov't approach has not panned out; Musk is effective if misguided; Bezos seems most systematic), but it's interesting to get his takes on these issues.

Perhaps the best chapter is Reasons. This chapter does a nice job of bringing out some of the variety of different motivations expressed for going to the moon (and Mars, for that matter). This chapter is thoughtful and insightful, helping the reader make sense of the plurality of - and limitations of! - various rationales for space exploration. We also get a nice teasing return to this chapter in the coda, when Morton mulls whether seeing a launch ends up creating too significant a bias to be able to evaluate the enterprise fairly.

Interspersed amidst these chapters, we get lots of interesting vignettes of different literature about the moon and different aspects of its study and exploitation. I wish these hung together with a bit more of a narrative arc. Surprisingly, I was also a little sad to not see a more international perspective on The Moon (despite being British, Morton's book is highly Ameri-centric in its narrative and theoretical framings/assumptions; which, of course, is understandable given America's outsized presence in all things space... but is a little frustrating to see those framings taken, fairly unquestioned, as the orientation for understanding the moon).

All that said, this is a really fascinating collection of ideas and vignettes. If you're a moon geek, well worth a read!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and imaginative, but perhaps also a bit unfocused, and with too many personal anecdotes and diversions into discussing Sci Fi novels about the Moon. Good, but curious and difficult to categorize.

[K8 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly, if not a work of science, a work of poetry. Beautifully written, and a pleasure to read and learn.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Moon bounces and drifts languidly over its topic, Earth's nearest neighbor and how it's been conceptualized and made concrete.

As a world just out of reach, but easily visible even with the naked eye, the Moon has proven important to theories of Copernican astronomy and geological understanding of the world. The book doesn't really get moving until Morton describes 'the Orphans of Apollo', his own generation who were promised a new world, and left instead with scattered bootprints and a few thousand kg of moon rocks. In the 50 years since Apollo, no human has gone beyond Low Earth Orbit. The big science agencies turned their attention to Mars, Jupiter, and the stars.

This may all be changing, of course, with SpaceX and Blue Origin, and the revolution in launch costs. Oliver's discussion of the contemporary landscape of space exploration is not systematic enough to call a survey, but lays out the major economic reasons to exploit the Moon's resources, and why He3 and ice mining might be bad ideas, unless using the Moon's resources is axiomatic.

Discussion of speculative literature, starting with early modern Utopians and closing with a wonderful critical essay on Heinelin's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress in light of the Anthropocene are the true heart of the book. Morton is a scifi nerd par excelance, and you think fans are slans, that essay is worth the price of admission. And you don't, you'll probably enjoy hearing what Morton thinks of Elon Musk.

[Matthijs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history and future events and everything there is to know about the moon currently. Is described in a fun and interesting way. I enjoyed the read and will look up to the night sky with a different appreciation. 🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a mission to read more non fiction and I love the moon. This kind of bored me?? But there was a paragraph that the author just basically shat on Musk and Bezos and I enjoyed that :)

[Read Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the 50th anniversary of Man on the Moon. What better way to commemorate it than reading a book about the moon.

This was one person's love story with the moon. Some history, some mythology, some future, some conjecture. It all makes for a well put together relationship. As much as I would like to personally visit space and step foot on the moon, I always thought the economics just did not seem to justify the expense. But how can you put a price tag on a dream? I am still all on board with the further exploration of space, both robotic and crewed, but how long of a process will it really be?

Anyway, I loved the references to other moon related readings and will be looking to expand my library.

Have a GoodReads.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took me a long time to read. Something just felt 'off' with the writing, the prose, the way the book is worked. It gets sloppy at parts, and goes crass and unacademic and more ...modern essayist?, I don't know how to pinpoint it or phrase it.

Like he discusses the catheter used by the astronauts at one point, and has to make mention that the tubes weren't big enough, because they were made my women and they didn't know 'the cock size' of the astronauts. His term and prose. Just seems off and off-putting. There is a few other later crass lines and 'cock' comes up again a few times. (Not a prude, but it all just seems out of place in this and seems merely for humor and just doesn't fit or seem right, not sure how else to describe it.)

I did enjoy a lot of the fictional Moon talk, and how books from Heinlein, Clarke, etc, impacted the moon's depiction in media and how we've viewed the moon. A book solely on that would be interesting, if advertised as such. This work didn't seem advertised as anything other than "its about the Moon" so you go into it assuming.... its about the moon, in any context, and the book jumps around about how it wants to discuss the moon, if it wants to do its history, or topography, or how we got to it, or NASA, or its future, or how it relates to Earth, etc.

I think there is a lot of missed opportunities in this, and that it could have been a lot more interesting. Sections I enjoyed, and sections I don't. Also didn't like the quotes in mid-paragraph form that was annoying to fit into the reading and just seemed more of an attempt at something literary and didn't pan out right. Perhaps a formatting thing or something, not sure, but it just felt off and took you out of the reading a bit.

Originally gave it a 3, but downgraded to a 2, thinking more like a 2.5 on LibraryThing.

[Bradd Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

In many ways the Moon is a very difficult place to write about. “Nothing ever happens on the Moon” is a quote from an old story that Moon lovers sometimes like to make which means that in the middle of Norton’s book, at its very core, there can’t help but be a void. The Moon is essentially a grey, lifeless rock bereft (as far as we know) of life, always showing us the same face as it reveals and conceals itself in predictable phases you can set your watch by.

Norton’s solution to the problem of a lifeless subject is write, to some degree, about the subject itself: how it may have came to pass, what sort of processes it is subject to, what may be beneath its surface, etc., and then to write about what people used to believe about it, what we learned when we visited it, what some may have in mind for it, commercially or scientifically. This makes it not so much a book about the Moon as a book about what man thinks of, and does, with the Moon. It’s more a history of science and science fiction than a story about a dead rock, even if that rock remains, despite it all, beyond our ken.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t many interesting things to discover or to think about the subject, especially when the issue of commercial exploitation is involved. Seeing the Moon, not in some kind of romantic way, but as just another means of getting rich can’t help but make a thinking person pause. The idea that we could ravage this dead, but still haunting and beautiful place the same way we have the Earth is disappointing. The thought that the day may come when countries and/or companies may be fighting over the right to exploit its resources is discouraging. It does however point to the fact that to man, or to modern man anyway, nothing is really sacred and everything is subject finally to his appetites.

Norton doesn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on this. In much of the book he is intent to show that the Moon may never really be a viable commercial entity, that everything about doing business there will likely prove to be too unwieldy to sustain itself, given our current state of technology. He understands all the arguments for its exploitation and continued exploration, but is not sanguine about any sustained practical results.

His position is informed and he writes well, but he writes too much. This book could be half its size and tell us just as much. Often, he can’t tell the difference between insight and editorializing. He makes a case for something and then, rather than trust the reader to come to some obvious conclusion, makes the conclusion anyway, injecting the author into places he doesn’t belong. Why do we need to know, for example, that he has met Elon Musk and thinks he’s a prick? More than anything it shows you that there is a passionate subculture surrounding anything involving space that always borders on the nerdish that cannot help but argue amongst itself even if the subject is something that no one, in the end, knows much of anything about. The void the Moon creates, to this day, is always being anxiously filled by people’s imaginations. Science being just another alibi.

Which, to me, would make a better point to Norton’s book, not what we know or may come to know about the Moon but why we feel the need to know anything in the first place. What are we really trying to find out anyway? What is eating us that may one day eat the Moon? Hard to say.

[Realms & Robots · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moon is a comprehensive guide that goes beyond the scientific, detailing the history of our race to the surface and the many behind-the-scenes advances required to get there. The book takes a scientific and cultural approach to the subject matter, showing the human curiosity that fueled our lunar obsession. By detailing past, present, and future, we see how far we’ve come on this journey and how far we have left to travel.

Morton alternates between scientific fact and a narrative retelling of the history of the various parts of the Moon and mankind’s discoveries. We see the early days of astronomy and the many revelatory discoveries made by looking at the stars. We get a history of the many years work required to actually get somebody to the Moon. These chapters are filled with accounts of the painstaking research and experiments necessary to prepare for such a journey, in addition to the many dreams by those who could turn this mission from fiction to reality. The short history of mid-century presidents and their respective positions on a journey to the Moon provides an interesting insight. We see Truman influenced by science fiction and Kennedy influenced by the ongoing conflict with the Soviet Union. We see a reluctant Eisenhower who went ahead and created NASA anyway.

Beyond these high-level policymakers, we get a sense of the thousands of people who were responsible for discovering the many components needed for a trip to the Moon. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were created, there was a boom in science and mathematics, and everyone worked together through long hours and excruciating experiments to succeed where others had not. The author goes through the development of many pieces of equipment, detailing just how difficult it was to get where we needed to be.

We also see the capitalist imaginings for the future of the Moon. Mines, weapons, moon bases—it’s all been imagined and proposed. The author also spends some time examining the surface of the Moon in terms of the best colonization locations, examining their strengths and weaknesses in relation to human needs.

Most unique to this version of the Moon’s history is the interspersal of actual dialogue from the Moon missions. You can experience the shock and awe of these astronauts as they discover a foreign surface few have traversed. This addition makes the journey markedly human, showing that in the end, curiosity was a primary driver.

Overall, The Moon will get you excited about the future of lunar travel. By understanding our past advances, we can regain that respect for one of mankind’s greatest achievements and prepare to one day return.

NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

[Tara van Beurden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how to describe this book. I've seen a few reviews refer to it as almost poetic, and I partially agree with this, though I feel I'd instead use the word 'flowery'. I'm all for writers waxing lyrical on a topic they are passionate about, but Morton's writing style reminded of how they always tell you in school not to use big words when smaller ones will work just as well. I probably should have read this book with a dictionary - as an avid reader and a (admittedly unpublished) writer myself, the fact that I found it hard to read just made me think Morton was showing off. That aside, the topic is an interesting one. Morton describes the moon, our natural satellite, our companion in the sky, in so many ways. Physically, spiritually, historically, no stone is left unturned. There is a lot of discussion throughout on the intersection between fiction and reality, as Morton describes a variety of topics from both their reality (or potential reality) and their portrayal in fiction. I've been listening to a podcast called Moonrise at the same time as reading this book, and there was such considerable overlap in the material it almost felt fated that I was to engage with both material at the same time. Moreover, there are a lot of topics or ideas here that I'd thought of before but which Morton presented a new perspective on, and I appreciate that. I came away more confused than ever on my feelings on the use of the Moon for things like mining, and feeling oddly sad for future generations who may look up at a different moon than the one I see now, pock marked by human settlements or similar. I think my main takeaway is that this is a book best read in short sittings, and one probably best read multiple times to truly get everything from it that it offers. Whether I'll do that, I cannot say.

[Socrate · Rating 4 out of 5]

În vreme ce Riccioli completa hărţile Lunii cu nume de astronomi, alţii populau Luna însăşi cu tot soiul de locuitori. Un principiu de economie divină – Dumnezeu nu putea fi un risipitor în creaţia Sa – i-a făcut pe mulţi să conchidă că, dacă există şi alte planete asemănătoare Pământului, ele trebuie să fi fost populate. Este ceea ce îşi propune John Wilkins în cartea sa The Discovery of A World in the Moone („Descoperirea unei lumi pe Lună”), publicată în 1638, o încercare de a dovedi că Luna este locuibilă şi, mai mult, că este locuită. Iar dacă este locuită, atunci despre locuitorii ei trebuie imaginate tot felul de poveşti. Astfel că pentru copernicani şi pentru tovarăşii lor călători, ficţiunile despre Lună au devenit, la fel ca reprezentările ei grafice, modalităţi de a-i afirma caracterul mundan precum şi de a demonstra natura planetară a Pământului, crescând şi descrescând pe cerul lunar.

Misterul luminii terestre, o dovadă că Luna era pentru Pământ ceea ce Pământul era pentru Lună, a reprezentat o temă curentă. Kepler vorbeşte despre ea în Somnium („Visul”, 1634), în care lumina terestră îmblânzeşte, pe faţa vizibilă a „Lunii” sale, ceva din asprimea climatică datorată zilelor şi nopţilor de câte 14 zile pământene fiecare. În cartea The Man in the Moone a lui Francis Godwin, publicată în acelaşi an cu cea a lui Wilkins, protagonistul, Gonsales, descoperă că viaţa selenară decurge, în cea mai mare parte a ei, doar datorită luminii terestre; când atât Pământul, cât şi Soarele se află pe cer, viaţa devine de nesuportat pentru marea majoritate a locuitorilor: doar cei mai puternici şi mai nobili pot rezista, în vreme ce ceilalţi îşi petrec lungile zile lunare dormind.

[Mike Parkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Obviously they would not just go to the Moon, look around, take note of the beauty of the Earth, pick up some rocks, come home and pack it all in? That would be madness.”

Millions of us grew up as “orphans of Apollo”, bitterly disappointed to learn that the moon landing had been an end, not a beginning, a task that powerful men had done for other reasons.
It’s 50 years later, but it seems more and more likely that we’ll be going back soon, due to falling launch costs and billionaires with lots of money to spend on their space dreams (these factors have a large degree of overlap).

There’s still no real rational reason to go – none of the economic opportunities (helium mining, anyone?) work, Mars is a tougher engineering challenge, and the Moon’s status as a dead world without an atmosphere or plate tectonics where “stasis is the norm” limits the amount of interesting planetary science we might do there. But that won’t stop at least some of us from giving it a go.

This book is very high on the geekery scale for something written for a popular audience, which I had no issues with, but if planetary geology is not your thing, you might want to give it a pass. It would have been a lot better if the publishers had spent a few bucks to add some explanatory diagrams and photos – writing pages and pages of text on how the moon’s phases, orbit, and tides work might not be quite as bad as “dancing about architecture”, but at times it didn’t feel too far off.

“The vision of an expansion beyond the earth is a deeply personal thing.” If that vision speaks to you, you will probably enjoy this book.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inclusive look at the Moon, investigating everything from its phases to its size and appearance, to its orbit, surface, and trajectories. Continuing, the author weaves together stories of visits, exposure, and imaginative tales penned by science fiction writers.

There have been instances of lunar meteorites found on Earth, bits of ejecta blasted from the Moon by impacts strong enough to create craters a few miles in diameter. And a recent examination of a lunar rock sample returned to Earth from the surface of the moon revealed an Earth fragment embedded in the rock. Clearly, there is a strong connection between the planet and its lone satellite.

From the days of the early astronomers to the future awaiting mankind, “Moon” explores the possibility of using the Moon as a stepping-off point for space exploration. As technology advances, new ideas meet old dreams and now, half a century since the Apollo astronauts walked on the lunar surface, NASA is once again planning a return to the moon. Has short-sightedness kept mankind away from the moon for too long? And what will new explorers find when they return?

“The Moon” includes sources and suggestions for further reading, references, and lunar illustrations. Particularly relevant as the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing approaches, readers are sure to find much to appreciate in this absorbing narrative.

Highly recommended.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great portrait of the Moon! I had been looking for something like this for a few years. This book is very recent and its science is not limited to the geology of the Moon; it also shows what people might do in the future with exploration of the Moon. It also gives a fine overview of science fiction about the Moon.

There were lots of surprises for me. I didn't know about the early 17th century speculations about Moon exploration by the likes of John Wilkins, Francis Godwin, and Aphra Behn. I'd say those constitute science fiction earlier than even Mary Shelley and the authors collected in the 18th century collection of scifi, Mesaerion.

Some of the author's language is a bit coarse (see, e.g., p. 72). His tone is pretty casual. One of his footnotes clues the reader in that he's being sarcastic about something simply by stating "This is not true." I found it a bit distracting; I bet some readers would be turned off by it.

Still, I imagine it is worth it for anyone who is a fan of the Moon. The hypothesis about the Moon's creation (Theia) was fascinating and told like a great creation story. The ideas about why or why not to return to the Moon are covered clearly (helium-3! platinum!). And the author's perspective about including the Moon as part of the Anthropocene are thought-provoking.

I think if I'd only own one book about the Moon, it would probably be this one.

[Peter Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this as I thought it would be a straight science text, and or a history of observation and exploration of the moon, which was obviously brought out to capitalise on the 50th Anniversary of the first manned moon landing. It was thus somewhat of a surprise to find it veering quickly into cultural themes, then teasing me with a textual probe or two into some science fiction about the moon, and then settling in to a full blown exploration programme of science fiction’s depiction of the moon (such as Ian McDonald’s Luna series).

In this last section of the book Oliver Morton’s exploration of lunar SF centres on his views of how practical each vision was/is, not just in scientific terms but also in economic terms (well the book is published by the Economist after all).

The book’s meander deep into the wonderful realms of science fiction was a very welcome surprise for an SF fan such as myself but it might be a bit of a shock for other readers if you were expecting a straight history and science text.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intimate portrait of the Earth's closest neighbour
Not only is this a good book about the Moon, it is also refreshingly different. Even when covering familiar material, Morton finds a way to be original. For instance, he retells the story of the Apollo missions with clever use of dialogue spoken on the Moon itself. As well as being a good Moon primer, this is also, inevitably, a book about Earth. For the Moon has long functioned as an empty vessel into which we pour our ambitions and animosities. That was true of the Apollo missions. These were always more of an expression of Earth-based politics than Moon-based science. And it is likely to be true of future voyages.

Although Morton can't find a single rational justification for returning to the Moon, he nonetheless trembles with excitement about the prospect of doing so. Like many others before him, he has fallen victim to the Moon's sirenic lure.

[Mdaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that looks at mankind's relationship with the Moon from scientific, social, political and economic points of view. Among other things, Morton looks at the feasibility for using the Moon as a launch pad for mankind's expansion into space, what the Moon tells us about the creation of our Solar system and interestingly about the ramifications for private organisations staging landings on the Moon.
As one would expect from a writer for The Economist there is a lot of detail and discussion around the economics of Moon enterprises. The layout of the chapters is quirky and the narrative is not chronological. Morton spends a long time discussing science fiction stories involving the Moon.
I have some minor qualms with the author's approach, he doesn't really discuss or investigate too deeply the anthropological meaning of the Moon in the sky, a constant since mankind first walked erect and looked up at the night sky with a questioning mind.

[R.J. Southworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled to properly get into this book as I really wasn't a fan of the author's difficult writing style. But the content makes up for that in how interesting it is. The book feels a bit disorganised at first as it talks about the cultural history of the Moon and the Apollo program; but it becomes more cohesive as it starts justifying the 'history for the future' tagline, discussing what reasons there are (or aren't) for returning to the Moon and the economical difficulties in having a settlement there, often framed against science fiction stories that have explored these ideas. There are quite a few uncomfortable truths for space enthusiasts like myself who would just love to see astronauts landing on the Moon again; this is one of those books that encourages thought, and certainly makes you realise that the Moon's role in future human history is going to be complicated.

[Dave Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writing style really hard to get on with but persevered aiming to read the whole book. In the end I skip read the last but one chapter. There were some absolutely fascinating sections in the book though many were hidden behind potentially too much detail or too much diversity. I wouldn't recommend it to my friends but mainly because they don't have a real fascination for the Moon though they are engineers and scientists. If you do you will probably love the book. One thing I have to admit is it certainly covers a lot of details. My biggest struggle was so much detail on each topic without an introduction at a layman's level. I hope you love it, it just made me quite sad y the end that I didn't as I've always been fascinated by the moon, moon landings and the future.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This work reads like a comprehensive moon reader. It is a combination of history/geography of the moon, the history of man's various missions to the moon, discussion of literature (fiction and non-fiction) about the moon and discussions about the future of the moon and humanity's vision for the moon. The themes can jump around a little in the book, almost as if each separate chapter can be taken as a separate series of essays. Sometimes it can get a little too technical, but there is much to learn from this. A step up in readability from a reference book, it is the type of work best read in chunks, not all the way through in one setting. Worth it for the space enthusiast or someone needed to research something about the moon for an academic project/class.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry for the short and sharp review. This was two books in one for me. A 2 star book with rambling and flowery prose that felt like an awkward juxtaposition to the historic, geographic and scientific content. It really jarred. And a 4 star book with amazing content that at times was wonderfully and insightfully articulated. Likely an editor’s nightmare as the quality and style of writing was at times beautiful, and very unusual for a book of this type, which could be a wonderful USP. But afraid it didn’t work for me, and lead to me almost “sleep reading” through and finding it hard work, and leaving me a little sad that I probably walked away from it having only learnt a fraction of what it contained....

[Alexandra Dav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nu a fost chiar ce speram, dar mi-a plăcut în mare parte.

- am aflat informații noi
- mi-a oferit unele perspective interesante, la care nu m-am mai gândit
- a abordat tematicile din mai multe puncte de vedere (economic, social, al literaturii etc.), ceea ce am adorat
- îmi plac mult și coperta și supracoperta
- pe de altă parte, ultima sută de pagini m-a cam plictisit; apreciez teoriile și referirile la romane, dar simt că n-am rămas cu prea multe în urma lecturării lor
- aș zice că avea nevoie de niște ilustrații în plus pentru a facilita înțelegerea unor aspecte; aș fi vrut și niște poze.

În concluzie, mă bucur că am ajuns să o citesc. Îmi fugeau ochii după ea de prea mult timp.