The Once and Future Night

An acclaimed science journalist digs into humanitys ancient relationship with the night sky and makes an urgent case for its restoration before our views of the stars are lost forever.

When Elon Musks Starlink satellites launched into space in 2019--the first of thousands to come--journalist Joshua Sokol found himself wondering, how could one person change the night sky for everyone? With so many new satellites in orbit, would there be an unpolluted view of the stars left anywhere on earth? What if we thought of the night sky as an environment--one that was worth saving?

So began a journey around the globe and through human and evolutionary history to understand how the stars have shaped our very understanding of ourselves. Sokol found constellations showing up in surprising and often similar ways in the earliest myths of peoples around the world, ultimately becoming the foundation of mathematics, navigation, and timekeeping. But, in the West, as the earth was mapped and terrestrial clocks ticked to life, the stars no longer seemed necessary. Stargazing became the stuff of hobbyists and astronomy a science entirely disconnected from planet Earth. By the twentieth century, with the electrification of modern life, a truly dark night sky was out of reach of almost everyones daily life.

This was a loss, and one that foreshadowed even greater losses today. As Sokol argues, the night sky is an environment we are giving up without even noticing. Light pollution is globally pervasive and getting worse, threatening the sky from below, and industrial and military satellites are a looming threat from above. Something all our ancestors had is almost gone. But there is still time. In defense of the cosmos, he reveals new research on the enmeshment of terrestrial and celestial environments, explaining how crucial the stars are to a wide array of animal species and delving into findings that extend to our own health and social wellbeing. The stars did not only serve and comfort ancient humans; they have something to offer us all still.

A wonder-filled history and passionate cri de coeur, The Once and Future Night will inspire readers to look up and reclaim our deep connection to the stars.