Dr. Vreeland has been reviewing The Privileged Planet in which the moon's contribution to our scientific discoveries as well as the habitability of terra firma (or not so firma - for those of you reading chapter 3) is lauded. 
And for those of you interested in learning more about our moon...
Today is the anniversary of the the first manned lunar landing, and Google Maps has added some Nasa imagery so that you can surf our nearest celestial neighbor.
http://moon.google.com