The Moon, Murder, and Self-Publishing

Dr. Chuck Wood will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, November 12 at noon to discuss his new book, The21st Century Atlas of the Moon. Coauthored with amateur astronomer Maurice Collins of New Zealand, the atlas is based on pictures from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), an unmanned mission to map the Moon with resolution good enough to see the rovers that Apollo astronauts used to drive across the lunar surface. "The mosaics created from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are finally taking the understanding of the Moon significantly beyond Apollo-era data," Wood said. The 108-page atlas features spiral-bound 8.5" x 11" pages. Each page of the atlas features an HDTV image with a map of the entire Moon in an upper corner showing where the image is located. A 100-150 word description accompanies each image. The 21st Century Atlas of the Moon can be ordered through his Lunar Photo of the Day website for $29.95 on a special order page. It is also available at the SMARTcenter at Centre Market in downtown Wheeling. Wood’s Lunch With Book presentation will have three components: 1-why the Moon is interesting, 2-what has and is happening to lunar exploration - for example, China has sent two unmanned orbiters to the Moon in the past few years and plans to land probe on the surface this year (unmanned), and 3-the pains and pleasures of self publishing.  Dr. Wood is director of the Center for Educational Technologies at Wheeling Jesuit University, home to the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future and the Challenger Learning Center. Wood also serves as a senior scientist with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz. and is a renowned expert on the Moon's geology. He writes the daily blog, Lunar Photo of the Day, has written a monthly lunar column for Sky & Telescope magazine since 1998, and has authored three other books dealing with the Moon, volcanoes, and impact craters. He also has a small telescope in his backyard to observe the Moon. 

Dr. Wood will also discuss the self-publishing process and a new murder mystery he is writing that is set in Wheeling in 1850.

Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please visit ohiocountylibrary.org, call 304-232-0244, or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.