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The Moon from Earth

Rajan Datar and guests contemplate the Moon, and ask how human understanding of what it is and what it means has changed over time.

For as long as humans have gazed up at the moon it has been an object of fascination. From the Aztecs to the Romans to the Romantics, the moon has inspired everything from artistic outpourings to religious devotion. So how has our understanding of our nearest cosmic companion changed over the millennia? And, 50 years on from the Apollo 11 Moon landing, how has our relationship with the moon been changed by our lunar explorations?

Rajan Datar talks to Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University in the UK; Anthony Aveni, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, Anthropology, and Native American Studies at Colgate University in the US; and Alexandra Loske, a German art historian and co-author of Moon: Art, Science, Culture.

Photo: A couple have dinner on a hill as the Supermoon is seen in Turkey's Kayseri, 2019. (Sercan Kucuksahin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Available now

44 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 May 2019 03:06GMT

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Broadcasts

  • Thu 23 May 2019 08:06GMT
  • Thu 23 May 2019 23:06GMT
  • Sat 25 May 2019 13:06GMT
  • Sun 26 May 2019 14:06GMT
  • Mon 27 May 2019 03:06GMT

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