The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Bogard LLC Gildan Media Books
Download As PDF : The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Bogard LLC Gildan Media Books
A deeply panoramic tour of the night, from its brightest spots to the darkest skies we have left.
A starry night is one of nature's most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, three-quarters of Americans' eyes never switch to night vision and most of us no longer experience true darkness. In The End of Night, Paul Bogard restores our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art. From Las Vegas' Luxor Beam - the brightest single spot on this planet - to nights so starlit the sky looks like snow, Bogard blends personal narrative, natural history, science, and history to shed light on the importance of darkness - what we've lost, what we still have, and what we might regain - and the simple ways we can reduce the brightness of our nights tonight.
The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Bogard LLC Gildan Media Books
The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard, follows Bogard’s travels around the world, looking for the night sky. Among his first visits is the Vincent Van Gogh painting “The Starry Night.” “Van Gogh lived in a time before electric light,” Bogard reminds us. Then he goes on with a description of what Van Gogh had seen, from a letter the painter wrote in 1888. “In the blue depth the stars were sparkling, greenish, yellow, white, pink . . .” Amazed, I’ve never seen any color in the night sky. I wonder how many of you have seen the colors of stars. “In doing away with darkness, what beauty do we lose?” Bogard asks.From beauty, which he often returns to, Bogard goes on to write about “disability glare.” It’s the reason drivers, especially older drivers like me “have a tough time at night.” After describing the science behind this disability glare, he goes on to write that moving from a lighted area to a darker area actually decreases our ability to see. “If you go to darkness, the eye opens a lot, you get more focus, and even in a very dark environment you see very well.”
He admits that many people feel safer in a brightly-lighted environment, then goes on to demonstrate, with a pair of photos, how the opposite is likely to be true. He cites the case of towns and villages in the U.S. and Europe that have turned off some lights some of the time—to save energy. Instead of increased crime rates, they experienced a reduction, as much as 50 percent.
He discusses the negative health effects of constantly lighted environments—and there are many. He interviews health professionals who research the relationship between light and disease. “. . . exposure to light at night is a completely unnatural and alien experience,” said one of them. “. . .our brain has not evolved, ever, to see substantial amounts of light at night.” Speaking with a sleep therapist, he hears that excessive use of night lighting “is the most important overlooked factor in our contemporary sleep and dream disorders epidemic.”
Bogard interviews lighting designers to learn what we can do to reduce light pollution, short of walking around in pitch blackness and learns some towns and cities have embarked on major energy- and light-saving projects with wonderful effects.
Throughout the book, Bogard describes his visits both to the lightest places on Earth—Las Vegas, for example—and the darkest—like Death Valley. He asks us to imagine seeing a sky so clear it has depth, some stars closer and others farther away. Imagine noticing the colors of stars and planets. The End of Night, Paul Bogard, ISBN 978-0316182904: check it out.
Product details
|
Tags : Amazon.com: The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition): Paul Bogard, LLC Gildan Media: Books, ,Paul Bogard, LLC Gildan Media,The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light,Gildan Media, LLC,B00JG5VFN6
People also read other books :
- Alive Again My Journey to Recovery BiteSized Books Book 19 eBook Anna Corthout
- How to Make Money as a Tutor Lessons from an Expert eBook Lynne Robinson
- GrantWriting Business StepbyStep Startup Guide StartUp Guides eBook
- Before You Go Saturn Short Stories Book 1 eBook Nikki Godwin
- The Shift From One to Many A Practical Guide to Leadership eBook Chrismon Nofsinger
The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Bogard LLC Gildan Media Books Reviews
This is a travelogue. This book describes Bogard's trek for finding great dark places on earth as well as stopping by to experience the worst, such as Las Vegas. There are many things happening in our society today that diminishes our quality of life. Having dark skies or reasonably lit communities may not be on the top of most people's list but certainly it is important as the reader will come to see. Mr Gogard addresses people's concerns and beliefs that brightly lit streets means safety, but it is hard to imagine really changing their minds unless an economic impact is felt - which Mr. Bogard addresses. As I watch my local news each morning, I am reminded that I have never seen a thief not rob a well lit convenience store or gas station. Likewise child abductions usually occur during daylight. The implication is that a crime under bright lights is better than one under dim lights. Alas it appears Mr. Bogard is resigned that his and others best efforts will only slow down the increase in light pollution and never stop it.
I am ambivalent about the good rating. Mr. Bogard is indeed in search of dark skies and the real physical impacts of bright lights at night on our health. Bright lights at night are not just an annoyance but creates real medical problems. Bogard goes off frequently into the philosophy of life and the meaning of darkness. Some passages I can relate to and other passages I felt went over board into the deep end. Granted star gazing under really dark skies does indeed get me thinking about the meaning of life. So I guess this is the reason for my ambivalency He gets a little too "touchy and feely" and then swings back to reality. But please don't get me wrong.
I liked the book and I believe most people will and so I do indeed recommend this book.
A couple months ago I spent time backcountry camping in Death Valley and realized just how bright the night sky was there compared to other areas I’ve visited over the years. I had seen this book mentioned in a magazine recently and decided to order a copy after my hiking trip. The book is very interesting and highlights all kinds of issues I had never thought about related to our overuse of lighting at night. Things discussed in the book include health effects related to artificial lighting, historical writings before artificial lighting was invented, various lighting advances over the years, etc. I had never known there were groups that actively work with businesses, parks, communities, cities, etc to correct light pollution until reading this book. I also never knew there were whole cities and communities designated as dark sky areas who have passed laws and restrictions on types of lighting allowed. I am unfortunately surrounded by neighbors who have security lighting in the front and back of their homes turned on all night every night and there are references to articles proving security lighting to be a fallacy in this book. The notes section at the end of the book has many good references and other books to read if you are interested in more information.
The book is packed with information but at times it is hard to follow where quotations from other books end and where the text for this book begins. For instance, the author will quote some lines from a historical book on night walks and then set out to physically walk the same places and I got lost many times trying to figure out whether a sentence was a quote or not. I was also confused on the purpose of the discussion on the word “melancholy” that appears between pages 166-169 which seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the book.
Overall, it is a good read but at times a confusing one.
The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard, follows Bogard’s travels around the world, looking for the night sky. Among his first visits is the Vincent Van Gogh painting “The Starry Night.” “Van Gogh lived in a time before electric light,” Bogard reminds us. Then he goes on with a description of what Van Gogh had seen, from a letter the painter wrote in 1888. “In the blue depth the stars were sparkling, greenish, yellow, white, pink . . .” Amazed, I’ve never seen any color in the night sky. I wonder how many of you have seen the colors of stars. “In doing away with darkness, what beauty do we lose?” Bogard asks.
From beauty, which he often returns to, Bogard goes on to write about “disability glare.” It’s the reason drivers, especially older drivers like me “have a tough time at night.” After describing the science behind this disability glare, he goes on to write that moving from a lighted area to a darker area actually decreases our ability to see. “If you go to darkness, the eye opens a lot, you get more focus, and even in a very dark environment you see very well.”
He admits that many people feel safer in a brightly-lighted environment, then goes on to demonstrate, with a pair of photos, how the opposite is likely to be true. He cites the case of towns and villages in the U.S. and Europe that have turned off some lights some of the time—to save energy. Instead of increased crime rates, they experienced a reduction, as much as 50 percent.
He discusses the negative health effects of constantly lighted environments—and there are many. He interviews health professionals who research the relationship between light and disease. “. . . exposure to light at night is a completely unnatural and alien experience,” said one of them. “. . .our brain has not evolved, ever, to see substantial amounts of light at night.” Speaking with a sleep therapist, he hears that excessive use of night lighting “is the most important overlooked factor in our contemporary sleep and dream disorders epidemic.”
Bogard interviews lighting designers to learn what we can do to reduce light pollution, short of walking around in pitch blackness and learns some towns and cities have embarked on major energy- and light-saving projects with wonderful effects.
Throughout the book, Bogard describes his visits both to the lightest places on Earth—Las Vegas, for example—and the darkest—like Death Valley. He asks us to imagine seeing a sky so clear it has depth, some stars closer and others farther away. Imagine noticing the colors of stars and planets. The End of Night, Paul Bogard, ISBN 978-0316182904 check it out.
0 Response to "[CNI]∎ Libro Free The End of Night Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Bogard LLC Gildan Media Books"
Post a Comment