CHAPTER THREE
Lunatics
CAN THE MOON MAKE PEOPLE CRAZY?
The word lunar is the adjective we use for the Moon.
It comes from Latin, the language of the Ancient Romans. They called the Moon «Luna.» And lunatic is an old English word for a crazy person. A long time ago, people thought the Moon changed people. Lunatics went crazy when the Moon was full.
The Ancient Greek thinker and teacher Aristotle said this was because there was too much light from the full moon. Some people couldn’t sleep. That made them crazy.
Was he right? We now have streetlights to see at night. People don’t go crazy because of streetlights. But we know that people in countries with no night in the summer or no sunlight in the winter can have problems. We need both day and night.
Today, it’s often bad to use the word «lunatic.» England stopped using the word in its laws in 1930. But people still use it when they talk. For example, if someone is a crazy driver, we say, «He drives like a lunatic!»
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