Who's Who in the Moon

I am the ninth director of the British Astronomical Association’s Historical Section. The first director was a solar astronomer called Mary Evershed (née Orr). She was the editor of the historical section’s first memoir, Who’s Who in the Moon – a series of potted biographies of everyone who had a lunar crater named after them. And there are some pretty obscure people up there. Do you know who Langrenus, Grimaldi, Stevinus or Bergius were? Me neither. And who decided who to name the craters after?

For the last few years, I have been part of a project to create a modern-day homage to Mary’s memoir, “Who’s Who in the Moon: From Abbot to Zupus, A Guide to the Moon and the People On It”. My contribution is a History of the Naming of Lunar Formations.

Let me tell you all about Who’s Who in the Moon …