Maggie Aderin-Pocock - The Book of the Moon: A Guide to Our Closest Neighbor

Editor: Michael Sand

Production Manager: Denise LaCongo

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018958073

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3849-4
eISBN: 978-1-68335-602-8

Copyright 2018 Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Illustrations all by Greg Stevenson apart from page (Philip J. Stooke)
Translation credits: Somnium by Tom Metcalfe, Herodotus by A. D. Godley, and Midnight Poem by H. G. Wharton.

First published in the United Kingdom by BBC Books.

Cover 2019 Abrams

Published in 2019 by Abrams Image, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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To family and friends who have patiently known me so long, I dedicate this to you. Starting in no particular order (well, actually, chronological):

To my mum for carrying me, inspiring me, and making me stronger.
To my dad for carrying me to higher planes, helping me to think, and giving me the moon on a stick. To my sisters, Sue and Hal, for generating in me a passion for music, drama, and an inquiring mind.
To my sister Grace, who taught me to truly care for someone other than myself.
To Martinmy coconspirator in lifefor giving me stability and understanding (especially when writing gets frustrating).
To Lori, I carried you, but now you carry me to a better place on higher planes, you make me stronger, and you make me want to know more so I can share it with you. You enable me to see myself better, in the dazzling mirror that is you. But most of all, for giving me the best tangible reason for wanting to make the world a better place for everyone, but especially for you.
To all my fellow lunatics out there, may we all, each and every one of us, get closer to our goal.

I ONCE HAD a friend tell me that they thought of me when they saw the Moon. It was an innocent comment, but to me there could be no greater compliment. The Moon is my yin and yang. It has driven my career and influenced how I have lived my life. In many ways it has defined what I have become, so for me to be associated with it in that way is wonderful.

We stand at an amazing juncture in history. Space and astronomy are truly having their moment, with new discoveries and developments happening all the timefrom the first detection of gravitational waves to the discovery of previously unknown exoplanets (planets orbiting the distant stars we see out in the night sky).

As technology develops, it gets easier to look farther and farther afield. Yet sometimes looking at what we can see in our own backyard can be just as satisfying, especially because what we discover locally is more accessible to investigate.

This is definitely the case with our local companion, the Moon. Dominating our night sky, it is easily visible with the naked eye, and we have been studying it ever since we were first able to look up and wonder. And yet, for all our observations and investigations, the Moon manages to hold on to some of its mystery. We seem to know surprisingly little about it. It is still uncertain exactly where it came from and how it was formed, yet we continue to theorize and speculate. In this book, I want us to go on a journey of understanding: exploring what we know and debating what is yet to be discovered.

As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon landings in 2019, let us develop a better awareness of the incredible life of the Moon. We will travel through its long and fascinating past and learn how it supports our fragile Earth in the present, and we will look forward too, to a relatively unknown but surely exciting future that awaits us regarding our ever-changing relationship with the Moon.

But most of all, and most importantly, let us celebrate our celestial partner and bring out the inner lunatic that lies within all of us.

Ever since I can remember, the Moon has played a vital role in my life, and Ive always been extremely happy to describe myself as a self-certified lunatic. I love the Moon; it fascinates me, and, as far as I can tell, Ive always had that fascination since I was very small. This might not be surprising, as I was born in 1968 and the Moon landing happened the following year. Indeed, I was taking my first small steps while Neil Armstrong was taking his giant leap for mankind. Having been brought up in that era of excitement and exploration, it was perhaps inevitable that I have always looked toward the Moon. In many ways, I feel that the Moon has always been there with me, leading me along my path and steering me into my career as a space scientist.

I cannot recollect my first memories of the Moon, but I believe that my formal introduction came via my father, who would tell me tales of his childhood in Nigeria. When he was growing up he owned a Raleigh bicycle. Now, Raleigh was the Rolls-Royce of bicycles, as far as my father was concerned. And my father would ride his beloved Raleigh bicycle a long way to get to school, some twelve miles or more, which meant he had to start his day early and always returned home late. But there were no roads or street lights to guide his way. Instead, he cycled across the sand and dust of the savannah with just the Moon lighting his way. He told us of its huge size and astounding beauty, how he saw it as a companion on his long journeys home. I knew if the Moon was a good enough companion for my father, then it was definitely good enough for me, growing up in North London.

So the Moon became a reassuring presence in the night sky, and these feelings would only intensify as I struggled to sleep throughout my childhood, battling insomnia. I would lie awake in bed for hours, waiting for sleep to come. Everyone else would be deep in the land of nod, but somehow sleep would elude me. After a while, giving up on pretending, I would climb out of bed and enter a world of silent darkness. Nighttime can be a sinister realm for a child. Nothing is quite as it seems during the day, and the most innocent objects take on a menacing aspect. Moving about the house, I would try to create as little disturbance as possible as the other members of my family slept, while tiptoeing to a window where I could see the sky clearly. Drawing back the curtains, I would reveal the dazzling brightness of moonlight streaming in across the room, banishing the world of darkness and creating a domain of wondrous light. Just viewing this spectacle for a few minutes would calm my nerves and relax me enough to attempt to sleep again. As with my father, the Moon was my friend and companion.