An Illuminating History Of The Moon

"Still  As  Bright:  An  Illuminating  History  of   the  Moon,  from  Antiquity  to  Tomorrow," Christopher  Cokinos, 2024.

I read very little of this book with my feet on planet Earth. I was either an airplane passenger, or on a ship. I read some of it while on the ocean, gazing at the moon, as a spacecraft landed on the lunar surface. The timing felt perfect.

Yet, in a way, this is not a book about the moon. It is a book about ourselves. It's a book about humanity's fumbling efforts to understand what the moon is, over thousands of years. It's lyrical, poetic, and infused with a deep love of science. It feels spiritual, wondrous, and transcendent, while also being deeply personal as the author teases out details of the moon's mysteries in the ever-changing light and shadow of his home telescope. It's a beautiful evocation of lunar time, and mortality.

I greatly enjoyed Cokinos' prior, co-edited book of space poetry. Now we get to know him as an individual too.

Cokinos muses on beauty, and time, and the unknown. He has a keen scientific mind but one that also allowed him to pause, enjoying a silent meditation on the quiet subtleties of the planet we live on. I was reminded of why I fell in love with space as a kid.

As science advances, we know more of the hard truth about the moon. But this book never allows us to lose the wonder of mystery. We never lose how beautiful the thoughts and imaginations of earlier generations were.

As we journey through time and draw closer to the now, Cokinos dwells elegantly on the Apollo 15 mission, placing it in correct, glorious context in the tradition of the centuries of exploration beforehand. Apollo 15 was a change of tone for the space program; it was a journey of curiosity and wonder.

Christopher Cokinos gets it.