Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark

Front Cover
Paul Bogard
University of Nevada Press, Aug 18, 2008 - Literary Collections - 218 pages
The development of the modern world has brought with it rampant light pollution, destroying the ancient mystery of night and exacting a terrible price--wasted energy, damage to human health, and the sometimes fatal interruption of the life patterns of many species of wildlife. In Let There Be Night, twenty-nine writers, scientists, poets, and scholars share their personal experiences of night and help us to understand what we miss when dark skies and nocturnal wildness vanish. They also propose ways by which we might restore the beneficence of true night skies to our cities and our culture. Let There Be Night is an engaging examination, both intimate and enlightening, of a precious aspect of the natural world. The diverse voices and perceptions gathered here provide a statement of hope that he ancient magic of night can be returned to our lives.

Contents

Why Dark Skies?
1
KATHLEEN DEAN MOORE The Gifts of Darkness
11
DAVID GESSNER Trespassing on Night
18
SUSAN HANSON Deep in the Heart
30
JAN DEBLIEU Ode to Jeff Cobb
49
CHET RAYMO Why the Night Sky Is Dark 1
61
CHRISTOPHER COKINOS A Backyard History of Light
68
MICHAEL P BRANCH Ladder to the Pleiades
74
VII
129
ANNE MATTHEWS The Sound of Falling Snow
131
GARY HARRISON Night Light
143
MARK TREDINNICK Original Country
150
FOX Night in Mind
159
ROBIN WALL KIMMERER Nightfall
167
JANISSE RAY Against Eternal Day
179
SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS From Earths Body
185

ALISON HAWTHORNE DEMING The Month of Mornings
87
RAY GONZALEZ The Desert Night
95
PHILIP HISCOCK Night Folklore in Newfoundland
101
ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE Nocturne with Moths
110
GRETCHEN LEGLER Acquainted with the Night
123
JENNIFER H WESTERMAN Heart of the Sky
193
What the Solution
199
CONTRIBUTORS
209
RESOURCES
217
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

Paul Bogard earned a Ph.D. in literature and environment at the University of Nevada, Reno, and now teaches at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. He returns as often as possible to watch the starry skies over the lake in northern Minnesota where he first learned the value of darkness and night.