Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2013), Edition: 1St Edition, 323 pages
Description
Describes how ever-present, modern artificial lights have changed the way humans experience darkness and bemoans the fact that the primal dark sky can no longer influence science and art.
User reviews
LibraryThing member tungsten_peerts
I adored this. I was initially afraid to read it, because I remember starry skies ... and their inexorable removal has, I am afraid, driven a wedge between me and others.
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
Bogard puts empathy and lyricism into the pursuit of dark skies. It was great to travel with him to the darkest spots and also to cities like Paris, which have much more thoughtful light policies than most.
LibraryThing member SilverKitty
The End of Night explores the effects of artificial light at night on people, animals, culture and life. Some of the specific topics that stuck out to me are the effects of the lights of Las Vegas on local bats, the night shift and human health, the best places to see a dark sky, that extra light
Chapters are numbered backwards 9 through 1. I wondered why this was, but Bogard introduces his reader to the Bortle Scale within the first few pages. The Bortle Scale was created by John Bortle to describe the darkness of a night sky, with 9 being the brightest and 1 being the darkest. The topics discussed in each chapter roughly follow the Bortle Scale.
This is a thought provoking book. When was the last time we gave the diminished night-time darkness due to artificial light and its effects any thought? I am thinking about it much more now! Oddly I started this book while camping in a very dark place - probably a 3 or 4 on the Bortle scale. It was dark enough at night to see the Milky Way – and also a number of satellites.
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at night does not deter crime, and different phenomena in the night sky that aren’t very visible except in very dark skies. Bogard does some of his research by walking around at night in such diverse places as Paris, London, the Isle of Sark, Las Vegas, Walden and Death Valley. His descriptions of these walks make this book both a research paper and a memoir.Chapters are numbered backwards 9 through 1. I wondered why this was, but Bogard introduces his reader to the Bortle Scale within the first few pages. The Bortle Scale was created by John Bortle to describe the darkness of a night sky, with 9 being the brightest and 1 being the darkest. The topics discussed in each chapter roughly follow the Bortle Scale.
This is a thought provoking book. When was the last time we gave the diminished night-time darkness due to artificial light and its effects any thought? I am thinking about it much more now! Oddly I started this book while camping in a very dark place - probably a 3 or 4 on the Bortle scale. It was dark enough at night to see the Milky Way – and also a number of satellites.
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LibraryThing member muddyboy
It is an honor to be the first to review this important book. This non fiction book portrays just how obtrusive artificial lighting has become in our lives. Not only do eighty percent of people in the world never get to experience the beauty and joy of actually seeing the multitudes of stars in the
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night sky but it puts insects, birds and wildlife in peril as it kills them or disrupts there patterns. For instance moths die by the millions and they are essential to the fertilizing of farm crops. Also, people who work the night shift are statistically more unhealthy and suffer a higher percentage of ailments than people that work days. The author even shows evidence that we are not really more safe due to exterior light at night. The book does lose its momentum a bit toward the the end when the author does some globetrotting to some "dark sky" areas of the world but overall this is a very important book and should be read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lisa.schureman
Very thought provoking book about how we're losing the ability to see our night skies, they're being washed out by artificial light. The lights from Las Vegas can be seen from eight different parks and from 160 miles away. So much for Vegas Staying in Vegas! More lighting hasn't coincided with less
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criminal activity just given criminals more light to see by. The energy companies aren't interested in more efficient lighting as they're making money lighting up the night. Very interesting and well researched. I even read the extensive notes in the back Show Less
LibraryThing member kellifrobinson
"Tomorrow I will head to Guernsey, a bobbing diesel-churned journey, and find cobrahead fixtures, unshielded lights, the insistent roar of the motors that rule our lives. But tonight in a field on Sark, I lie staring up - and around - at the starry sky, a man on his back in a field, all but
I vaguely remember a legal case in law school about the owner of a baseball field being sued for trespass caused by the super-bright lights shining from the field at night onto residential houses next door. That's light pollution. I also recently had to move my bedroom from one side of my house to the other after my neighbor installed (without any regard to his neighbor apparently) a super-bright motion-detecting flood light that was regularly triggered throughout the night by cats and critters causing light to flood into my bedroom and disrupt my sleep. That is also light pollution. But I have never studied the night sky or any aspect of astronomy so lots of this content was pretty new to me.
Paul Bogard approaches the subject as the Professor of Writing he is, peppering the scientific and astronomic concepts with tons of literary references in this work of narrative non-fiction. He makes his case well for why we need more night and less artificial light. I felt several times like this short book could have been even shorter, but I appreciated the passion that the author had for his subject and his writing was good. I am heading to the north Georgia mountains this weekend where I anticipate the night sky to be darker than the sky above my home in Birmingham. I will need some help to recognize any constellation other than the Big Dipper but I plan to do it. I plan to lie on my back and stare up at the sky and think about this book. I may never have happened upon this book naturally but, now that I have, I plan to stay aware and vigilant and careful to make decisions and support decisions that reduce the amount of artificial light in my world, and increase natural darkness.
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disappeared." The bibliographical references for this book are: Light pollution; Night - Psychological aspects; Lighting - Physiological aspects; and Lighting - Social aspects. Like Bryce Canyon National Park Ranger Kevin Poe observes towards the end of this book, I am one of those people that had never heard the words "light" and "pollution" in the same sentence before. Then I read this book as part of my Postal Book Club. I vaguely remember a legal case in law school about the owner of a baseball field being sued for trespass caused by the super-bright lights shining from the field at night onto residential houses next door. That's light pollution. I also recently had to move my bedroom from one side of my house to the other after my neighbor installed (without any regard to his neighbor apparently) a super-bright motion-detecting flood light that was regularly triggered throughout the night by cats and critters causing light to flood into my bedroom and disrupt my sleep. That is also light pollution. But I have never studied the night sky or any aspect of astronomy so lots of this content was pretty new to me.
Paul Bogard approaches the subject as the Professor of Writing he is, peppering the scientific and astronomic concepts with tons of literary references in this work of narrative non-fiction. He makes his case well for why we need more night and less artificial light. I felt several times like this short book could have been even shorter, but I appreciated the passion that the author had for his subject and his writing was good. I am heading to the north Georgia mountains this weekend where I anticipate the night sky to be darker than the sky above my home in Birmingham. I will need some help to recognize any constellation other than the Big Dipper but I plan to do it. I plan to lie on my back and stare up at the sky and think about this book. I may never have happened upon this book naturally but, now that I have, I plan to stay aware and vigilant and careful to make decisions and support decisions that reduce the amount of artificial light in my world, and increase natural darkness.
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LibraryThing member ehousewright
Some interesting things to think about here-- "light pollution" as something you could be aware of from neighbors (and towards your neighbors too?), lighting that at least reduces the rays that don't work towards your illumination goals, the fact that the skies of your youth might now be almost
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impossible to find. I do remember one late night/early morning in Hawaii hearing a noise and going to the window of the hotel room and just gasping at the stars that were everywhere. Worth a read, worth some time invested in your house and your neighborhood. Show Less
LibraryThing member Thomas_Watson
If you are an amateur astronomer or a casual sky gazer concerned about light pollution, find a copy and read this book! I started out thinking I had a pretty good grasp of the issue, but discovered that there's a lot more to this than the visibility of stars at night. A beautifully written personal
If you've never felt any particular need to gaze at the night sky, and wondered what the issue of light pollution was all about, read this book. You might be surprised by what you learn, and quite likely the word "glare" will have a very different meaning when you're done.
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account of a man trying to understand what natural darkness means, and to understand its value.If you've never felt any particular need to gaze at the night sky, and wondered what the issue of light pollution was all about, read this book. You might be surprised by what you learn, and quite likely the word "glare" will have a very different meaning when you're done.
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LibraryThing member dasam
A lyrical lament to what is lost, the darkness that enables us to see and hear more deeply, to experience the falling upwards into stars, the Milky Way. It is sad to understand that for those younger than 50, they probably do not recognize their loss.
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
The author of this book travels to various places around the world – some are the brightest places and some are the darkest places. He is trying to find the best ways to get back to some natural darkness, and not let light pollution take over our world.
There is a scale to measure darkness (from
I found this very interesting. I love looking at the stars and miss being in a rural area in order to actually see the stars (or more than the very few I can see in the city I now live in). I love to be out at my parents’ cabin in the summers when I visit, and I can see the Milky Way and pick out so many constellations when I’m out there.
There is a scale to measure darkness (from
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1-9, 1 being the darkest), and I liked that he numbered his chapters in reverse, as he started at the brighter places (Las Vegas, brightest in the world! And Paris, City of Lights), and made his way to darker places, as he continued on. He not only discussed the light or darkness of each place, and of course, the resulting lack of stars that can be seen, he also talked about crime (some light helps, but more and more light doesn’t make a difference), and also the effect of perpetual light at night on humans’ health, not just due to sleepyness for those who work at night, but also cancer. Of course, there was discussion of other animals, as well, who rely on night and darkness. I found this very interesting. I love looking at the stars and miss being in a rural area in order to actually see the stars (or more than the very few I can see in the city I now live in). I love to be out at my parents’ cabin in the summers when I visit, and I can see the Milky Way and pick out so many constellations when I’m out there.
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LibraryThing member PDCRead
When was the last time you stopped to look up at the stars? And if you have looked recently then can you remember how many stars were visible? Unless you are into astronomy then it was probably a while ago, and if you did happen to see some on a clear night then there were probably not as many as
Bogard wants us to use less light at night to witness this spectacle once again. Travelling from Las Vegas with its Luxor Beam, one of the brightest single spot of light in the sky, he visits places in America that are beginning to recapture the dark once again. Heading over the pond he visits London to see the streets that still have gas lamps, and onto Paris where the night lighting is specially designed to enhance the atmosphere of the city. He travels to Sark, an island that he had never heard of before, to see how they are embracing the dark and even visits Wimborne to talk to astronomers.
The effect of too much artificial light at night is covered in lots of detail too. From the way it affects us, disturbs sleep patterns and the health effects of working the night shift. The natural world is dramatically disturbed as well, with nocturnal migrations of birds being swept of track and bats not being able to get the food they need as insects are distracted by lights. He blows apart the need for glaring security lighting too, revealing that criminals like the lights we helpfully provide as it means they can see what they are doing.
It is a call for us to rediscover the primeval beauty of the night sky and to consider exactly how we use artificial lighting to enhance our outdoor spaces. Well-written and passionate, his concern is that the next generation never will get to see the magnificence of the Milky Way. He raises interesting points about the use of security lights and how secure we are, and how the intelligent use of light could have a beneficial effect on our lives. Not a bad book at all. 3.5 stars overall.
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you remember. The night sky can be one of the natural world’s most dramatic scenes, and yet this is something that we are not seeing much now because of the advent of brighter lights in towns and cities. This extraneous light pollution means that only the brightest stars are visible now, and we almost never experience the richness of the Milky Way in the sky.Bogard wants us to use less light at night to witness this spectacle once again. Travelling from Las Vegas with its Luxor Beam, one of the brightest single spot of light in the sky, he visits places in America that are beginning to recapture the dark once again. Heading over the pond he visits London to see the streets that still have gas lamps, and onto Paris where the night lighting is specially designed to enhance the atmosphere of the city. He travels to Sark, an island that he had never heard of before, to see how they are embracing the dark and even visits Wimborne to talk to astronomers.
The effect of too much artificial light at night is covered in lots of detail too. From the way it affects us, disturbs sleep patterns and the health effects of working the night shift. The natural world is dramatically disturbed as well, with nocturnal migrations of birds being swept of track and bats not being able to get the food they need as insects are distracted by lights. He blows apart the need for glaring security lighting too, revealing that criminals like the lights we helpfully provide as it means they can see what they are doing.
It is a call for us to rediscover the primeval beauty of the night sky and to consider exactly how we use artificial lighting to enhance our outdoor spaces. Well-written and passionate, his concern is that the next generation never will get to see the magnificence of the Milky Way. He raises interesting points about the use of security lights and how secure we are, and how the intelligent use of light could have a beneficial effect on our lives. Not a bad book at all. 3.5 stars overall.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
nonfiction. waxes a bit too philosophical in the middle chapters, but I did enjoy the science, and the perspective.
Awards
PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award (Shortlist — 2014)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2013-07-09
Physical description
323 p.; 9.75 inches
ISBN
0316182907 / 9780316182904