Why do we talk about the Man in the Moon?

Open a children’s story book, and you’re likely to find a drawing of the Man in the Moon. For many people, the Moon, with its combination of light and dark areas, looks like a man’s face.

The Man in the Moon is always young, freshly discovered by each pair of eyes that sees him for the first time. And he is also ancient, dwelling in the Moon right down the ages, immortal as the rocks and dust of the Moon’s geological face. And for those who travel for the first time to the opposite hemisphere, the Man in the Moon may have an unfamiliar face.

Britons who visit South America or Australia assert quite correctly that their friendly figure from the north has suddenly turned upside down.