Moon: An Illustrated History

From Ancient Myths to the Colonies of Tomorrow

David Warmflash

• Publisher: Union Square & Co.
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781454931997
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Astronomy & Astrophysics

From the moon's formation, to its potential for future exploration, this richly illustrated volume presents 100 milestones in lunar history. With dazzling images on every spread, and illuminating text by astrobiologist Dr. David Warmflash, Moon: An Illustrated History chronologically presents 100 milestones in the Moon's development and exploration. Starting 4.5 billion years ago when the Moon formed, this stunning volume moves from the hypotheses of the Moon's formation (4.5 billion years ago) to sixth-century BCE predictions of solar eclipses, from the twentieth-century Space Race between the US and the Soviet Union to private space companies and possible future lunar colonies. Find out about lunar calendar systems and cults in the Bible; how lunar brightness was used to estimate stellar distances; how advancing telescopes in the seventeenth century allowed us to eye the Moon more closely; how author Jules Verne inspired the Father of Astronautics; the originals of the Saturn V Moon Rocket; the Apollo missions, and so much more.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• 4.5 Billion Years Ago: Formation of the Moon
• 4.5 Billion Years Ago: Moon–Earth Pulling Begins
• 4.3–3.7 Billion Years Ago: The Moon and the Origin of Earth Life
• 4.3–3.9 Billion Years Ago: Impacts Carve into Lunar Crust
• 3.9–3.1 Billion Years Ago: A Lunar Facelift
• 3.8–3.5 Billion Years Ago: Peak of Lunar Volcanic Activity
• 3.2–1.1 Billion Years Ago: Eratosthenian Period of Lunar Geological Time
• 1.1 Billion Years Ago: Copernican Period of Lunar Geological Time Begins
• 450 Million Years Ago: Impact Forms the Aristarchus Crater
• 440–1.5 Million Years Ago: Lunar Assistance for Intelligent Land Life
• c. 8,000 BCE: Mesolithic Lunar Calendar
• 23rd Century BCE: Humanity’s First Author
• 22nd Century BCE: Moon Meets the Sun Over China
• 22nd–21st Centuries BCE: Sumerian Lunar Calendars
• 18th–17th Centuries BCE: Complex Lunar Calendar Systems
• c. 900–700 BCE: Lunar Cults in the Bible
• 763 BCE: Assyrian Eclipse
• 747–734 BCE: Nabonassar Standardizes the Lunar Calendar
• c. 7th Century BCE: Earliest Mention of Selene
• 6th Century BCE: Beginnings of Nonreligious Astronomy
• 6th Century BCE: Thales Stops a War
• th Century BCE: Spherical Harmony
• 5th Century BCE: Anaxagoras Stands Trial
• 5th Century BCE: Greeks Understand Lunar Phases
• c. 350 BCE: Earth’s Curved Shadow on the Moon
• c. 350 BCE: Heavenly Perfection Corrupted
• Early 3rd Century BCE: Library of Alexandria
• 3rd Century BCE: Aristarchus Measures Lunar Diameter and Distance
• 3rd Century BCE: Quarter-Phase Moon and Heliocentrism
• 3rd Century BCE: Eratosthenes Calculates Earth’s Circumference
• 3rd Century BCE: The Sand Reckoner
• 2nd Century BCE: Applying Math to the Lunar Orbit
• c. 100 BCE: The Antikythera Mechanism
• 1st–2nd Century CE: On the Face in the Moon’s Orb
• c. 150: The Almagest
• 500–800: Eastern Astronomers Keep Looking Up
• 9th–11th Centuries: Shukuk
• 11th Century: Seeing the First Sliver of a New Moon
• 13th Century: A New Model for Lunar Motion
• 14th Century: Lunar Brightness to Estimate Stellar Distances
• 14th Century: Adjusting Lunar-Distance Variation
• 1543: The Moon Orbits Alone
• 1570s: Moon and Sun Orbit Earth
• 1581: A Dream of a Lunar Voyage
• 1609: Telescopic Study of the Moon Begins
• 17th Century: Advancing Telescopes Eye the Moon More Closely
• Late 17th Century: The Moon Inspires Isaac Newton
• 18th Century: Improving Instruments Advance Lunar Astronomy
• Late 18th Century: A Lunar Society in Birmingham
• 1824: Another Doctor Turns His Eyes to the Moon
• 1870s: Verne Inspires the Father of Astronautics
• 1873–1909: Scientists Consider Lunar Origins
• 1914–22: The Moon Proves General Relativity
• 1926: First Liquid-Fueled Rocket
• 1929: Woman in the Moon
• 1938: BIS Lunar Spaceship Design
• 1930–44: Origins of the Saturn V Moon Rocket
• 1945: Operation Overcast
• 1948–60: New Understanding of Craters
• 1957: Sputnik
• 1958: Explorer I
• 1958–59: A New Discovery and a New Agency
• 1959: First Pictures of the Moon’s Farside
• 1961: Humans Enter Space
• 1961: An American in Space
• 1962: Planning Lunar Missions
• 1962: The Moon Speech at Rice Stadium
• 1963: Human Computers
• 1963–64: Saturn Architecture Takes Shape
• 1964: Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd
• 1964: Beginnings of Lunar Science
• 1964–65: Astrogeology
• 1965: Improving Space Capabilities
• 1965–66: Learning to Rendezvous and Dock
• 1966: Neutral Buoyancy
• 1966: Tragedies
• 1967: Apollo 1 Fire
• 1967: Reengineering Apollo
• 1967: Declaring Peace on the Moon
• 1968: Lunar Tortoises
• 1968: Reaching for the Moon
• 1968: Earthrise
• 1969: Dress Rehearsals
• 1969: One Giant Leap
• 1969: Beginnings of Lunar Field Science
• 1969: Making Moonquakes
• 1969: The Lunar Receiving Laboratory
• 1970: A Successful Failure
• 1971: Return to the Moon
• 1971: Extended Missions
• 1972: Descartes Highland
• 1972: Mission to Taurus-Littrow
• 1972: Apollo Biostack
• 1972–74: Cancelled Apollo Missions
• 1970s–80s: Elucidating Lunar History
• 1980s–90s: Studying Lunar Resources
• 1998: Lunar Prospector and Surface Ice
• 2003–13: New Generation of Moon Probes
• 2018: Preparing for New Missions
• 2019–44: Building a Lunar Infrastructure
• References
• Image Credits
• About the Author