The End of Night

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. Since the 1930s its increase has been gradual enough that it would be easy to imagine our nights are as dark, or nearly so, as they ever were. But today some three-quarters of Europeans and Americans no longer experience real night and can''t imagine real darkness-and nearly all of us live in areas considered polluted by light. In ways we''ve long understood, in others we''re just beginning understand, 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. In Geography of Night, Paul Bogart investigates what we mean when we talk about the different shades of darkness, about what we''ve lost, what we still have, what we might regain. He travels from our brightest nights to our darkest, from the intensely-lit cities where public lighting as we know it began, to the sites where real darkness might still remain. Encountering scientists, physicians, activists and writers, Bogart discusses how our use of light at night is negatively affecting the natural world in ways we''re barely beginning to study; how human physical, psychological, and spiritual health are significantly influenced by darkness or a lack thereof; 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.

Auteur

Paul Bogard, PhD., is a widely published author of journalism, creative nonfiction, scholarship and is the editor of Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark. He has also presented on darkness and light pollution at conferences, universities, nature centres, national parks, bookstores and churches. He studied Literature and Environment at the University of Nevada, and now teaches writing at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Texte du rabat

Our use of light at night is negatively affecting the natural world in ways we're barely beginning to study. Meanwhile, our physical, psychological, and spiritual health are significantly influenced by darkness or a lack thereof; it's not a matter of using light at night or not, but rather when and where, how and how much.

Résumé
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.