For millennia humans knew the stars as well as we know our own backyards. Yet today many if not most of us have lost vital connections with our natural world, and so have in many ways lost our sense of wonder. In The luminous dusk, Dale Allison explores the loss of wonder in Western society. Mining insights from sources as diverse as ancient creation myths and contemporary children's books, he highlights our ongoing disconnect from the cosmos, tracing its undeniable spiritual and philosophical impact.