The Moon - A History for the Future 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.