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

[malignd at aol.com]

I also lived in Vermont for a number of years.  It's America's best state.



-----Original Message-----
From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Fri, Sep 6, 2013 6:34 am
Subject: Re: The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light


As a child I vacationed in Vermont every year. The dirt, the rocks,
the trees, the green, and of course, the cold lakes, the reflection of
the sky in the lakes, the cool nights, stars brilliant through the
firs, the giants who shed their needles softening my slides from mossy
monsters.  One of my favorite places on Earth.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaRlmClmEy8

On 9/5/13, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
> I live in Vermont about 500 yards from the nearest steetlamp and maybe twice
> that from the highway that passes through town.  Having lived in many rural
> places I treasure the unimpeded starlight and the blackness of an overcast
> evening. The only noise is the small volume of traffic on our road and the
> creek across the street.   A few of us have helped prevent more lights from
> going up in town and argued to reduce what we have or get lamps that are
> efficient and direct the light down.  When one flies the sheer volume of
> energy being used on excessive light is disturbing even though the patterns
> are visually entrancing.
>
> On Sep 5, 2013, at 7:57 PM, Jill Adams wrote:
>
>>  Hi list, I've been lurking.... I hope BE is going to be a fun read.
>> -Jill
>>
>> Contributor(s):Bogard, Paul (Author)
>>
>> ISBN: 0316182907   EAN: 9780316182904
>> Publisher: Little Brown and Company    (View Publisher's Titles)
>> US SRP: $ 27.00 US  -  (Discount: REG)
>> Binding: Hardcover
>> Pub Date: July 09, 201
>> Kirkus Reviews (05/15/2013):
>> 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.
>
>

 
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