The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light

[Dave Monroe]

On 9/5/13, Jill Adams <grladams at teleport.com> wrote:

> An ardent opponent of light pollution chronicles how the darkness of night
> is disappearing around much of the world, why that matters, and what can and
> should be done about it. Bogard (Creative Nonfiction/James Madison Univ.)
> travels around the world to its brightest and darkest places, looking up at
> the night sky. This book can be seen as a companion piece to the anthology
> Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark (2008), in which the
> author gathered 29 individual voices on the subject; here, the voice is his
> own but with generous quotes from scientists and activists whom he has
> sought out in his travels. Among the places he visited are not only the
> cities of Las Vegas, Paris, Florence and New York, but also Walden Pond,
> small towns and remote places such as Death Valley, Chaco Canyon, the Canary
> Islands and the Isle of Sark. Bogard fondly and movingly remembers times
> when night was really dark, but he fears that such experiences will be
> unknown to most of humanity. The loss, as he explains, is not merely an
> aesthetic or even a spiritual one; artificial lighting may be having serious
> impacts on our health and on the environment. The author talked to
> researchers who see a link between lighting and cancer and to naturalists
> who note the impact of artificial outdoor lighting on other species, such as
> birds, bats and bees. The efforts of the National Park Service to set up
> dark-sky preserves gives Bogard reason for optimism, and his conversations
> with outdoor lighting experts indicate that feasible energy-reducing
> approaches are available. What's needed is awareness, which the author
> provides in an appealing, reader-friendly way. An engaging blend of personal
> story, hard science and a bit of history. COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews,
> ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

http://www.versobooks.com/books/1429-24-7