Overview

Streetlamps, neon signs – an ever-present glow that has changed the natural world and adversely affected our health; Paul Bogard illuminates the problems caused by a lack of darkness. We live awash in artificial light. But night’s natural darkness has always been invaluable for our spiritual health and the health of the natural world, and every living creature suffers from its loss. Paul Bogard investigates what we mean when we talk about darkness. He travels between the intensely lit cities – from glittering Las Vegas to the gas-lit streets of Westminster – and the sites where real darkness still remains, such as the Brecon Beacons and the island of Sark. Encountering scientists, physicians, activists and writers, Bogard discusses how light is negatively affecting the natural world; how our well-being is significantly influenced by darkness or its lack; and how it’s not a matter of using light at night or not, but rather when and where, how and how much. A beautiful invocation of our constant companion, the night, which returns every day of our lives, this book reminds us of the power and mystery of the dark.

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9780007428212

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Reviews

From the reviews of 'The End of Night': 'Bogard sets about his investigations with an energetic purposiveness and enterprise. To seek to let back in a little of the lost starlight and allow more of nature's shadow to reassert its balm seem to me both modest and wholesome aims, and Bogard's book does much to make a case for them' Salley Vickers, Observer 'Thought provoking ... convincing that artificial light has blinded us to the beauties of the night. Perhaps it's time to follow him over to the dark side' Mail on Sunday 'Bogard's book is a literary journey - in the space of a few pages, we walk with Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and Retif de la Bretonne. It is also a pilgrimage to our capitals of light. This is a rich book with a rewarding appen--dix of notes. The big thing is that, as you read it, you too will want to reclaim the night and perhaps rediscover the heavens of the Enlightenment' Nature Magazine 'Bogard takes us light years through history, science, psychology, art, folklore and his own travels, looking for an unpolluted dark and starry, starry night' Iain Finlayson, The Times 'Super little book ... This is a hunt for a proper night sky ... and it's proper fascinating' Sunday Sport

From the reviews of 'The End of Night': 'Bogard sets about his investigations with an energetic purposiveness and enterprise. To seek to let back in a little of the lost starlight and allow more of nature's shadow to reassert its balm seem to me both modest and wholesome aims, and Bogard's book does much to make a case for them' Salley Vickers, Observer 'Bogard's book is a literary journey - in the space of a few pages, we walk with Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and Retif de la Bretonne. It is also a pilgrimage to our capitals of light. This is a rich book with a rewarding appen--dix of notes. The big thing is that, as you read it, you too will want to reclaim the night and perhaps rediscover the heavens of the Enlightenment' Nature Magazine 'Bogard takes us light years through history, science, psychology, art, folklore and his own travels, looking for an unpolluted dark and starry, starry night' Iain Finlayson, The Times 'Super little book ... This is a hunt for a proper night sky ... and it's proper fascinating' Sunday Sport

From the reviews of 'The End of Night': 'Bogard sets about his investigations with an energetic purposiveness and enterprise. To seek to let back in a little of the lost starlight and allow more of nature's shadow to reassert its balm seem to me both modest and wholesome aims, and Bogard's book does much to make a case for them' Salley Vickers, Observer 'Bogard's book is a literary journey - in the space of a few pages, we walk with Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and Retif de la Bretonne. It is also a pilgrimage to our capitals of light. This is a rich book with a rewarding appen--dix of notes. The big thing is that, as you read it, you too will want to reclaim the night and perhaps rediscover the heavens of the Enlightenment' Nature Magazine 'Super little book ... This is a hunt for a proper night sky ... and it's proper fascinating' Sunday Sport

Author Information

Paul Bogard is a widely published author of journalism, creative nonfiction, and scholarship whose work has appeared in Outside, Audubon, and Backpacker, the Minneapolis StarTribune, and the Albuquerque Journal. His night-related essays have appeared in Creative Nonfiction (“The Path and Pull of the Moon,” named in 2010 as a notable essay by Best American Essays), the Gettysburg Review (“Hearing Moon and Starlight”), and elsewhere. The International Dark-Sky Association recently commissioned his article, “The Inspiration and Influence of the Night Sky Throughout Literature,” for their Catch a Falling Star: A Comprehensive Guide to Light Pollution. Bogard is the editor of Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark (U of Nevada P, 2008), an anthology that gathers together twenty-nine original essays by scientists, poets, nature writers, and scholars to help us understand the value of darkness and the threats of light pollution. Sandra Steingraber, author of Living Downstream, writes of Let There Be Night, “From the inner workings of the melatonin-secreting pineal gland to the mating habits of fireflies and the epiphanies of stargazing, here is a natural history of night.” In addition to his written work, Bogard has presented on darkness and light pollution at conferences, universities and colleges, nature centers, national parks, bookstores, and churches around the country. Bogard earned his doctorate in Literature and Environment at the University of Nevada, Reno. His annual interdisciplinary course at Northland College titled “Acquainted with the Night,” designed to offer students “an experience that will forever change the way you experience night,” regularly filled to capacity. He now teaches writing at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

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