Book Review: Still as Bright: An Illuminating History of the Moon from Antiquity to Tomorrow
October 2025 :
Still as Bright: An Illuminating History of the Moon from Antiquity to Tomorrow
by Cristopher Cokinos, New York: Pegasus Books, 2024, ISBN: 9781639365692, hardbound, $35.00 US
Reviewed by Francine Jackson
Sometimes a book is written that the author seems to be so disjointed, jumping from one topic to another so fast that the reader has trouble keeping up with the idea of the book. At first, Still As Bright seems to begin like that, but, if the reader continues, the topics do tend to level off. The author begins with his nightly observations of the Moon from his backyard as a kid, and how its magic stayed with him as an adult – at least for a bit. From there, he goes into a description of the Moon’s motion, and the many ways it seems to have been observed through the millennia
The author then veers 180 degrees, trying for we’re not sure why he’s attempting to heat a cauldron filled with potions and (gasp!) dead frogs. This brings up another historic epic.
Interspersed into each chapter is a part of his life, all of which does – at least indirectly – that relates to the Moon, from hopping a fence to view lunar-themed statues interspersed in a historic yard, to remembering his childhood memories glued to the TV as Armstrong and Aldrin take their first footprints amidst the regolith. And, of course, the author brings up the almost reputation destroying newspaper articles concerning John Herschel.
All this may sound like a vast rigmarole of lunar fact, history and fantasy, but, somehow, it works. The author’s writing may at first seem to be a rambling of someone who just writes what’s on his mind at the time he’s in front of his computer, but, if you are willing to stick it out, you may find yourself enjoying the final product.
