The Moon captiv ates our collective imagination\, serving as a calendar\, a mythic deity\, an artistic muse\, and a scientific frontier. Join us for a fascinating v irtual conversation with Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum curator Matthew Shindell as we delve into his book\, Lunar: A History of the Moon in Myths\, Maps\, and Matter.
\nPresident John F. Kennedy& rsquo\;s rousing &ldquo\;We will go to the Moon&rdquo\; speech in 1961 bef ore the US Congress catalyzed the celebrated Apollo program\, spurring the US Geological Survey&rsquo\;s scientists to map the Moon. Over the next e leven years a team of twenty-two\, including a dozen illustrator-cartograp hers\, created forty-four charts that helped set the course of space explo ration.
\nFor the first time\, each of those beautifully hand-drawn\ , colorful charts is presented together in one stunning book. In Lunar \, National Air and Space Museum curator Matthew Shindell&rsquo\;s ex pert commentary accompanies each chart\, along with the key geological cha racteristics and interpretations that were set out in the original Geo logic Atlas of the Moon. \;
\nInterwoven throughout the boo k are contributions from scholars devoted to studying the multifaceted sig nificance of the Moon to humankind around the world. Traveling from the St one Age to the present day\, they explore a wide range of topics: the preh istoric lunar calendar\; the role of the Moon in creation myths of ancient Egypt\, Greece\, and Rome\; the role of the Moon in astrology\; the impor tance of the Moon in establishing an Earth-centered solar system\; the ass ociation of the Moon with madness and the menstrual cycle\; how the Moon g overns the tides\; and the use of the Moon in surrealist art.
\nRegi ster today for a thorough exploration of the Moon&rsquo\;s role in popular culture\, science\, and myth!
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\nAbout the A uthor:
\nMatthew Shindell is a historian of science and tec hnology whose work focuses on the exploration of the Earth\, Moon\, and pl anets and the research programs that made this exploration possible. He is a Space History Curator at the Smithsonian&rsquo\;s National Air and Spac e Museum\, and the co-host of the Museum's podcast\, AirSpace.&nb sp\;
\nShindell holds a Ph.D. from the University of California\, Sa n Diego's History Department and Science Studies Program. He also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop. He is the author of \;For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet  (2023) and The Life and Science of Harol d C. Urey (2019)\, coauthor of Spaceships (2023)\,  Our Future in Space (2023)\, and Discerning Ex perts (2019)\, editor of \;Lunar: A History of the Moon in Myths\, Maps\, and Matter\, and co-editor of Smithsonia n American Women (2019). 
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