The Once and Future Moon

Spudis, a geologist with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, does his level best to interest readers in the ""ancient and silent world of the Moon"" in this copiously illustrated report. With a wealth of scientific detail, he describes the history and composition, observation and exploration, of our nearest cosmic neighbor--a cold, lifeless satellite lacking a protecting atmosphere. The moon's deeply pocked surface bears witness to its violent beginnings, and Spudis believes that by studying the moon we can glean information about Earth's origins, as the two bodies share a history of cosmic bombardment. He writes clearly, providing effective if pedestrian analogies to clarify scientific phenomena. His narrative comes to life only when he passionately advocates a return to the moon, which he views as a civic as well as a scientific necessity. He outlines a surprisingly cost-effective program for taking both human and robotic explorers to the moon within the decade. There are resources to be mined, data to be retrieved and, critically, a national sense of pride and optimism to be revived, he says. His text begins to resemble low-grade science fiction, however, when he progresses from lunar exploration and utilization to colonization; his descriptions of a space-faring civilization on the moon is tentative and forced. Spudis will be most effective preaching to the converted, those possessed of a scientific bent who have already caught the lunar bug. Others may find him nearly as dry as the lunar plains. (Dec.)