Summing Up and Looking Ahead

Abstract

Abstract Scientists fooled themselves into believing that the Moon harbored life and that the Moon’s craters were volcanic, despite the complete absence of evidence for either notion. The origin of the Moon turned out to be one of the most intractable problems that scientists have ever tried to solve, as one theory after another failed. Yet the scientists never gave up. Now we know that during the course of the random violence of the early solar system, an enormous contingent event took place, one that left a planet on which life could arise, become intelligent, and figure out how lucky it was.