When the Earth Had Two Moons

It literally makes up the ground beneath our feet. And yet, we don’t really understand how the Earth, the moon, or the other planets in our solar system became what they are today. Why are they so different? How did they come to be in the first place? Is our solar system representative of the rest of the universe or a fantastic anomaly?

These are just some of the questions that When the Earth Had Two Moons tries to answer. Although this book offers more questions than answers, the debate itself is absolutely fascinating. It’s nothing short of the story of how everything formed (both the parts we understand and the parts we don’t). It covers the mystery of the moon, as well as theories old and new regarding how our most loyal sky-bound companion became part of this marvelous double-act that made life possible.

A book about wonder and wondering, When the Earth Had Two Moons occasionally slows down because of the hard science, but rarely for long, instead giving us just enough info to truly understand the next concept that will blow our minds (Cryovolcanoes, for instance!).

Perhaps the most engaging part of the book is when the author puts you in the shoes of a billionaire investor with aspirations of reaching the stars (a la Bezos or Musk) and walks you through the process of designing your own private mission and experiment in space. It makes the challenges of space exploration tangible and real in a very clever fashion.

This book never shies from the hard questions, even as it amazes you with the vast wondrous expanse of what we have yet to learn.