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El Fin De La Oscuridad. El Ocaso De La Noche En Una Era De Luz Artificial. (2014)

by Paul Bogard(Favorite Author)

3.89 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Paidós

review 1: If you are an amateur astronomer or a casual sky gazer concerned about light pollution, find a copy and read this book! I started out thinking I had a pretty good grasp of the issue, but discovered that there's a lot more to this than the visibility of stars at night. A beautifully written personal account of a man trying to understand what natural darkness means, and to understand its value.If you've never felt any particular need to gaze at the night sky, and wondered what the issue of light pollution was all about, read this book. You might be surprised by what you learn, and quite likely the word "glare" will have a very different meaning when you're done.
review 2: This book addresses the efforts of some people to mitigate light pollution, and supports the... moreir commitment to these efforts. At best, it causes one to reflect on the value of having a night sky and the terrible loss that artificial lighting causes. The author presents some substantive data and concepts in support of this. The early chapters of the book are the most interesting ones, particularly one about the lighting of Paris. At worst, the book is preachy and repetitive, presenting what is speculation as fact. The author liberally quotes from other sources, often effectively but at other times seemingly because he doesn't have enough ideas of his own. When he repeatedly quoted Walden, I just knew he would have to eventually write about Thoreau on Mt. Katahdin, and sure enough, he did. He interviews many people but eventually they all sound the same, parroting back the same mantra - dark sky good, artificial light bad. He writes about his road trips to various sites to look at the night sky, and eventually it is as uninteresting and cringeworthy as a distant acquaintance's collection of unremarkable vacation photos, i.e., all the same. The message of this book is very important, and in some ways the author succeeds in presenting it. But chapters that could have been spent in better describing the current state of light pollution are spent in repetition and uninteresting musings. less

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