Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are

Science writer Boyle debuts with an excellent exploration of how the moon has shaped life on Earth. She explains that the moon likely formed from debris loosed after a Mars-size planet collided with Earth in the early days of the solar system, and that the moon’s gravitational pull on Earth stabilizes the planet’s tilt and keeps seasonal change consistent. Noting the moon’s central role in early religion, Boyle argues that a god associated with the moon and worshipped in ancient Mesopotamia “was one of the first gods in human history, if not the very first.” The moon was also central to the development of modern science, Boyle contends, examining how systematic observations of the moon made by early astronomers Thomas Harriot, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo in the late 17th and early 18th centuries established a new approach for studying the natural world. Throughout, Boyle’s dexterous blend of science and cultural history is elevated by her spry prose (“The entire horizon dims to a livid red glow as Earth begins to moan and tremble, shockwaves rattling through its crust and deep into its mantle,” she writes of the cosmic collision that created the moon). This illuminates. (Jan.)