The Moon: A History for the Future - Couverture rigide

Morton, Oliver; The Economist

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1541774329 ISBN 13 : 9781541774322

Editeur : The Economist, 2019

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

"Elegant.. His prose is well-honed, if occasionally breathless, and adds a lyrical dimension to chapters on lunar properties and phenomena."―Alan Hirshfeld, Wall Street Journal

"Morton's science writing is compelling and clear. Sections on the formation of the moon and the history of lunar science are engrossing... [Morton] has a gift for synthesizing science, technology and culture."―Eli Kintisch, Washington Post

"Cool, melancholy... [Morton's] flights of fancy include a geological formation story for the moon that Lars von Trier's film Melancholia cannot rival for spectacle and sentiment...His moon is a place defined by absences, gaps and silence. He toys with thoughts of future settlement; he explores the commercial possibilities."―Simon Inge, The Telegraph

"This is a book to bend your mind with the mysteries of the swirl-like markings on the lunar surface or the cadence of impacts that have bombarded the inner Solar System...[Morton] has written what is surely the most eloquent exploration of our modern understanding of the Moon."―Alexandra Witze, Nature

"Of the books in this overwhelming flood, one stands out for the understated elegance of its prose and the profoundly wide-angle view it offers of its subject: Oliver Morton's The Moon: A History of the Future. Only one of the book's eight chapters is explicitly devoted to the Apollo missions, but the tome, in its entirety, places humanity's lunar forays into new, thought-provoking contexts guaranteed to surprise and delight even the most knowledgeable space buff."―Scientific American

"Brilliant and compelling. Morton is a high-octane British science journalist, and every chapter is littered with material that strikes, amazes or haunts... It should be clear that this is an unusually thoughtful and well-written science book...This is a book filled not just with a lifetime's knowledge of its subject but with a lifetime's suppressed excitement."
―Sunday Times (UK)

"It's unlikely, though, that any of this new crop of books will be as wide-ranging, and as entertaining, as The Moon by Oliver Morton, a staff writer at The Economist. The book is a collection of essays that examines all those aspects of the Moon, and more, and does so in a way that will be thought-provoking even for those familiar with those topics."―The Space Review

"An engaging, multifaceted view of the moon... an account that is not only rich in facts, but leavened with fiction, for the author seems to have read widely in the literature of science fiction to show the interest, ideas, and fantasies people have had about our nearest companion in the solar system... Accessible, informative, and entertaining-first-rate popular science reporting."―Kirkus (starred review)

"The Moon is such a fascinating object in human history. From its dominance in our neighboring sphere, to its romantic impetus, to its symbol of national stature, to its position as a mere stepping stone to greater exploits, the Moon has been omnipresent in the human sky. And no book about the Moon that I've ever read captures the multifaceted nature of the Moon as does Oliver Morton's The Moon. As impressive as the subject matter he deals with is the quality of Oliver Morton's writing. Whether describing the clockwork of the lunar cycle or the history of the Moon's influence in human affairs, Morton's writing is clear, incredibly informative, and flows like poetry. A truly delightful and informative read."―Rusty Schweickart, lunar module pilot, Apollo IX

"A multidisciplinary triumph, combining a deep understanding of science fiction and myth with accurate, up-to-date lunar science and space technology."―David Morrison, founding director, NASA Lunar Science Institute

Présentation de l'éditeur :

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 closer: 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 Earth: 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.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: The Economist
• Date d'édition: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1541774329
• ISBN 13: 9781541774322
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 352