A total eclipse of the sun is probably nature's most beautiful phenomenon. In days

gone by darkness at noon would have been terrifying and even now in the 21st

century the fascination remains as powerful as ever.

A total solar eclipse is not just an astronomical event, it's a human experience. Once you've seen a total

solar eclipse, it seems to ignite a fire that becomes a powerful driving force.

Nobody's ever quite prepared for what actually surrounds them.

It's an assault on all of the senses and no matter how well you try and describe it to people, they are never quite prepared for what happens.

I am Oxford University Physicist Frank Close, and in this program for the BBC World Service, I explore the spell cast over people for centuries by eclipses.

My own fascination with eclipses dates back to a playground much like this one

where I've come to meet my grandson from school. I was eight years old

when my teacher Mr Cyril Laxen introduced me to something that would come to define my life forever.

He used a leather football to represent the earth and a cricket ball for the moon and a flashlight

for the sun to cast a shadow of the ball or the moon onto the earth and explained that if you were in the

shadow the sun would be blocked out and that was an eclipse and that was a remarkable

demonstration one that would set me on a course to become a science That was a remarkable demonstration.

One that would set me on a course to become a scientist.

I eventually got to see my first eclipse in 1999, and I've been bitten by the bug ever since. This fascination with pursuing this

heavenly vision capable of transfiguring the human psyche. That's why I've

decided to take my grandson Max to make the journey of a lifetime,

to see a total solar eclipse as it passes over the United States on Monday, August 21st.

And in another second, the sun would be totally eclipsed.

She's showing you what happens next.

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