02/05/2011

Extraordinary personal stories from around the world. Today: British writer James Attlee's quest to understand the significance of the moon and the experience of moonlight for people all over the world. We also hear from the American-Iranian academic Haleh Esfandiari on how the moon gave her hope when she was held in solitary confinement as a political prisoner. The moon is vital in Indian culture too, as the science writer Pallava Bagla explains and for the Scottish artist Katie Paterson the moon has been a source of inspiration. She bounced a recording of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in morse code off the surface of the moon.

James Attlee's book Nocturne - A Journey in Search of Moonlight is published by Hamish Hamilton