I should teach the world the famous quote, attributed to Galileo Galilei, 'eppur si muove' - Latin for 'but still it moves'. This quote concerns the heliocentric theory that the Earth orbits the Sun, and lays the groundwork for understanding the Earth-Moon-Sun system. Without this orbiting triangle, life as we know it might not even exist on Earth.

I would want my students of science to understand that from this simple seventeenth-century quote flows all of our knowledge of our place in the local universe. Our movement about the Sun creates our seasons, and gives us the joy of the changing night sky. The changing seasons, in conjunction with the movement of the Moon around the Earth and - to a lesser extent - around the Sun as well, cause the tides, ocean currents and worldwide temperature and atmospheric pressure variations, thus causing the weather and ocean movements. This movement helps to promote life in the seas, and helps to promote the formation of rain clouds - basic building blocks for all life.

Without a clear understanding of the motions of the Moon, we would probably never have attempted to travel there. Space travel, and all of the technology that has derived from that effort, have benefited us in the past 50 years like no other advancement in technology could. A good understanding of the Earth-Moon-Sun system is basic, to the understanding of so much of the world around us.

Robert Garfinkle is author of Starhopping: Your Visa to Viewing the Universe (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)), and coauthor of Backyard Astronomy: Your Guide to Starhopping and Exploring the Universe (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)).