Second paragraph of third chapter:

It’s the classic Monty Python question; I mean what has it done for us? We all have a vague notion that it gives us the tides, but how else can a ball of rock in space help us here on Earth?

The astronomer Maggie Aderin-Pocock has been one of the presenters of the BBC astronomy TV programme The Sky at Night for ten years, following in the footsteps of Patrick Moore. I’m afraid it’s generally on too late for me to watch, but I read this book with much interest, having read Patrick Moore’s classic Guide to the Moon forty years ago.

Moving with the times, it’s a very approachable combination of autobiography, science and culture, with the second quarter of the book looking at the history of lunar observation and at literature inspired by the moon. There’s not much about the Apollo landings – you can find plenty of information about them elsewhere – but there’s a lot about the research findings of what is on and inside the Moon.

But the guts of the book are to explore the effect that the moon has on us – both culturally and scientifically. Aderin-Pocock’s approach is that curiosity about the moon is a gateway drug that may lead readers into more research on science. It’s tightly and breezily written, and recommended. You can get it here.