To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration

When human exploration of the lunar surface began in 1969, it marked not only an unprecedented technological achievement but also the culmination of scientific efforts to understand lunar geology. Memoirs of the Apollo astronauts have preserved the exploratory aspects of these missions; now a geologist who was an active participant in the lunar program offers a detailed historical view of those events--including the pre-Apollo era--from a heretofore untold scientific perspective. It was the responsibility of the scientific team of which Don Wilhelms was a member to assemble an overall picture of the Moon's structure and history in order to recommend where on the lunar surface fieldwork should be conducted and samples collected. His book relates the site-selection process in detail, and draws in concomitant events concerning mission operations to show how they affected the course of the scientific program. While discussing all six landings in detail, it tells the behind-the-scenes story of telescopic and spacecraft investigations before, during, and after the manned landings. Intended for anyone interested the space program, the history of science, or the application of geology to planetology, To a Rocky Moon will leave all readers with a better idea of what the Moon is really like. In so expertly summarizing this earlier phase of exploration, it stands as an authoritative touchstone for those involved in the next.

Review :
"Every Moon-buff will love this book. And you don't have to know norite from troctolite to enjoy it immensely. Don Wilhelms has written a marvelous history of the most extraordinary exploration ever." --Astronomy"An absorbing personal account of the bright but brief flowering of lunar science in the 1960s and 1970s. . . . This is a genuine history of lunar geology, a thoroughly researched book. . . . A generation after Apollo 11, children play mindless games with toy computers more powerful than the machine that guided the Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility. In our age of technological trivia, let Wilhelms take you back to that wonderful time when a president had a vision, science had a purpose and men walked upon the Moon." --New Scientist"A fascinating tale of human endeavor, resourcefulness, error and the emergence of the truth." --Nature"Delightful and authoritative....Of particular interest are the chapters detailing how the Moon rocks returned to Earth provided the evidence needed to determine how the Moon's surface features were created, whether its interior is hot or cold, and how the Moon originated. As both a personal memoir and a general introduction to what science came out of Apollo, this book is highly recommended." --Library Journal"A clearly readable, largely accurate, and eminently human portrayal of the events and players that established our current understanding of the Moon's evolution." --Sky & Telescope"A magnificent work, it is scientifically rigorous yet clearly written in an anecdotal style and thus should attract a wide audience of general readers as well as scientists." --Science