Astronomers' Moon. -- Classical philosophers -- The Renaissance in astronomy -- Early telescopic impressions of the Moon -- Mapping the Moon -- The surface material -- Geologists' Moon. -- Early ideas about lunar craters -- A different point of view -- Stratigraphic mapping -- Whence the Moon? -- The space age dawns. -- Missiles and space -- Satellite shock -- America tries for the Moon -- Soviet lunar flyby -- NASA embraces lunar science -- More Soviet successes -- Preparing Ranger. -- Firming up the plan -- Management issues -- The spacecraft -- Deep-space tracking -- The Apollo commitment. -- The role of man in space -- Kennedy's challenge -- Rangers for Apollo -- Apollo underway -- Ranger struggles. -- Stranded -- Lunar flyby -- Lobotomy -- Power failure -- TV failure -- Ranger triumphs. -- Success at last -- Repeat performance -- TV spectacular -- Mission accomplished -- Soviet activity. -- The second generation -- Filling in the gap -- On the surface -- In lunar orbit -- Developing Lunar Orbiter. -- Changing horses -- Boeing wins -- Mission objectives -- The spacecraft -- On the suface. -- "My God, it landed!" -- Tumbling out of control -- The Apollo zone. -- Reconnaissance flights -- Apollo site short-list -- Scratching the Moon. -- A bouncy landing -- Outcome unknown -- Orbiters for science. -- Global mapping -- Scientific targets -- Wrapping up -- Tasting the Moon. -- A risky descent -- On the meridian -- Inferences about the maria -- The southern highlands -- Roving plan -- Apollo development. -- Organisation -- Plans and schedules -- Early unmanned testing -- The Gemini legacy -- Setback and recovery -- Apollo picks up the pace. -- Moon rocket -- A spectacular 'all up' test -- The first LM -- A daring plan -- Boring holes in the sky -- Men orbit the Moon! -- The Spider -- Dress rehersal -- End game.