Onward to the Moon

Abstract

Nobody who has ever looked at the Moon can have failed to see the dark patches once believed to be oceans. No doubt sketches of them were made in very early times, but no Greek or Egyptian lunar drawings have come down to us, and the first known map of the Moon goes back only to the late seventeenth century. It was the work of William Gilbert, the pioneer researcher of magnetic phenomena, also physician to Queen Elizabeth I. This was before telescopes became available, so that Gilbert had to depend upon naked-eye work. His map was published in 1651, but it must have been completed before the end of 1603, for the excellent reason that this was the year in which Gilbert died. It shows several of the “seas” in ­recognisable form, so that it did at least make a start in lunar cartography.