"A wide-ranging exploration of humanity's troubled relationship with darkness, and the damaging effects of our drive to overcome it." -- The New York Times "Though the book is written as a sort of Silent Spring manifesto against the ecological devastations of light pollution, its considerable charm depends on the encyclopedic intensity with which he evokes the hidden creatures of the night. Eklöf's book is made most memorable by the sometimes wild eccentricities of the life-forms it chronicles." -- Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker "Though Mr. Eklöf loves both bats and darkness, his sensibility is more good-natured than gothic, rendering night not as an ordeal but an odyssey, rich in revelation and insight . lyrical." -- Wall Street Journal "As a Swedish conservationist, Johan Eklöf urges us to think of light pollution as more than a nuisance that obscures our starry skies. well-researched .
the book is a reflective reminder that our control of the world is as delicate as the smallest of species affected by it." -- Scientific American "What is lost when darkness disappears? Stargazing, flowers that unfold by moonlight, phosphorescence in the sea, and something deeper yet. With extraordinary insight, Johan Eklöf explores the influence of night on nature, on cities, and in our connections to one another. a scintillating read by a conservationist of true literary flair, who has spent long hours tuning his attention to twilight and nocturnal life." --Rebecca Giggs, award-winning author of Fathoms "A captivating, poetic call for greater awareness of the natural cycles of the world." -- Kirkus Reviews "Well-researched and surprisingly lyrical. a powerful contribution to our understanding of the harm we're causing, and a clarion call for change: unlike many of the complex issues facing the planet, protecting the darkness is truly within our grasp." -- New Statesman (UK) "[An] eye-opening treatise on light pollution.
Urgent and vivid, this account shines." -- Publishers Weekly "Poetic and philosophical . intimate and expansive." -- Daily Telegraph (UK) "An urgent and erudite hymn to the night, composed by a scientist with the soul of a poet." --C hloe Aridjis, author of Book of Clouds "A superb book by a world-leading ecosystem ecologist, Eklöf takes us on an exciting journey spanning multiple fascinating areas of nocturnal biology. This is a critically important must-read for all who have an interest in the health of our planet." --Russell Foster, Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute and Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford.