The End of Night

April 15, 2013
Bogard (editor, Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark) spent his childhood summers in a lakeside cabin in Minnesota, where he savored the night in all its inky blackness and took away with him a lifelong appreciation for the darkest hours. In this moving, poetic study, the professor of creative nonfiction at James Madison University examines from numerous angles the night and how we experience it, traveling to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Walden Pond, and the Canary Islands to soak up varying degrees of darkness. After talking to astronomers, lighting professionals, nurses, and other night-shift workers, Bogard goes on to explore the implications of a night that’s getting brighter every minute, thanks in large part to parking lot lights and streetlights. Discussions on lighting’s role in safety (some research suggests a direct correlation between higher crime rates and increased street lighting), as well as public health (he notes that studies indicate a possible relationship between light at night and cancer rates), add to the story, making this an immersive, multifaceted, and thought-provoking study. Even readers unable to tell Orion from the Big Dipper will find a new appreciation for the night sky after spending some time with this terrific book. 13 b&w photos. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary Agency

May 15, 2013
An ardent opponent of light pollution chronicles how the darkness of night is disappearing around much of the world, why that matters, and what can and should be done about it. Bogard (Creative Nonfiction/James Madison Univ.) travels around the world to its brightest and darkest places, looking up at the night sky. This book can be seen as a companion piece to the anthology Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark (2008), in which the author gathered 29 individual voices on the subject; here, the voice is his own but with generous quotes from scientists and activists whom he has sought out in his travels. Among the places he visited are not only the cities of Las Vegas, Paris, Florence and New York, but also Walden Pond, small towns and remote places such as Death Valley, Chaco Canyon, the Canary Islands and the Isle of Sark. Bogard fondly and movingly remembers times when night was really dark, but he fears that such experiences will be unknown to most of humanity. The loss, as he explains, is not merely an aesthetic or even a spiritual one; artificial lighting may be having serious impacts on our health and on the environment. The author talked to researchers who see a link between lighting and cancer and to naturalists who note the impact of artificial outdoor lighting on other species, such as birds, bats and bees. The efforts of the National Park Service to set up dark-sky preserves gives Bogard reason for optimism, and his conversations with outdoor lighting experts indicate that feasible energy-reducing approaches are available. What's needed is awareness, which the author provides in an appealing, reader-friendly way. An engaging blend of personal story, hard science and a bit of history.

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Starred review from June 15, 2013

Bogard (creative nonfiction, James Madison Univ.; editor, Let There Be Night) gives us a world tour of the night, both its darkness and our lighting of our way through it. He takes us from perhaps the darkest place in the United States, in the Nevada desert, to one of the brightest, not far away in Las Vegas; to a Cape Cod, MA, beach for stargazing and the natural sounds of night; and to a bridge in Austin, TX, that hosts a huge colony of bats. He offers delightful insights from experts on the activities of nature during the night--the "ecology of darkness"-- e.g., with foxes hunting and nocturnal migrations of geese. Readers will not be immune to Bogard's wonder and appreciation, which are evident in every paragraph. He further engages us with stories of different kinds of lighting, their uses (e.g., the lighting of Paris), our artistic interpretations of light, and the effects upon us (some dire) of artificial lighting. He shows how the loss of natural darkness has harmed Earth's ecology as the worlds of darkness slip away. Today, many human populations have never experienced night vision or the complete darkness. VERDICT Bogard will leave readers in awe of darkness and in admiration of his book. For discerning naturalists.--Margaret F. Dominy, Drexel Univ. Lib., Philadelphia

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2013
In this artful blend of environmental and cultural history, Bogard manages to make a book about light pollution pure reading pleasure. As he travels the world looking for dark spaces that best reveal the night skies, Bogard considers our affinity for artificial light, the false sense of security it provides, and its implications. He studies the skies of Las Vegas and Paris, Walden Pond and Mantua, Italy. He walks with lighting designers, naturalists, and astronomers while pondering the best way to embrace the night. Authors such as Thoreau and Henry Beston serve as hallmarks, while the thoughtfulness with which Bogard considers such broadly diverse issues as the impact of working the night shift and the persecution of bats, quintessential creatures of the night, is inspiring. Bogard urges readers to weigh the ramifications of light pollution and our failure to address them, illustrating his arguments with photographs that prove his point (most staggeringly, a satellite shot of Europe's light pollution). Smart, surprising, and thoroughly enjoyable.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)