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Summary: Take Sagan on faith (?)--pseudoscience is junk.
Review: Carl Sagan's book is mostly an examination of several areas of "psuedoscience" popular today, for example, alien abductions, repressed memories, and demonic possession. He makes his case that these phenomena are bogus, but...While I am inclined to agree with him, based on my own independent observations, there is very little here that would persuade an indepedent undecided third party to reject the claims of these pseudoscieces. Sagan frequently employs the Socratic method of persuasion through dialogue and questions, rather than facts and deduction. "Why did alien abductions suddenly start being reported only after mankind began to explore the possibility of space travel?" Well, maybe it is a coincidence. More documentation, thorough examinations of peer-reviewed scientific journal articles which support his claims (and disprove pseudoscience), and less Socratic "dialogues" would have been helpful. Also irritating is that many of Sagan's unscientifically based opinions, chiefly his views on the USA's educational policy, are included in the book. While most are relegated to final chapters (before which there is an "these views are not scientific" admonition), there are enough remaining peppered throughout the book to make me wonder how much of his other opinions are actually supported by scientific evidence. In short, while it may be comforting to those of us who are skeptical of pseudoscience to read the words of a more famous fellow skeptic, this book is not systematic, logical, or thorough enough to "disprove" anything. It is also burdened with political opinions that are irrelevant to the central message of the text.
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Summary: A Fine Manual On Critical Thinking
Review: Critical thinking should be taught throughtout the educational system at every level. It is a vanguard against superstition and fraud which harm untold number of people in every society. Carl Sagan does an excellent job of detailing the necessary elements of critical thinking. He also applies the same elements to examine repressed memories, alien abductions, UFOs, astrology, channeling and the parallels between these phenomena and the religious visions of the medieval period. Sagan's approach is not dogmatic and his genuine desire for knowing the truth is passed on to the reader. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to learn and apply the proper method for examining theories and beliefs, regardless of their nature.
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Summary: Science at Its Purest
Review: This book taught me more about science than any of the physics, chemistry, and general science classes I have attended. It should be made a required reading before any student begins his/her journey into the realms of science. It teaches us what our greatest tool - science - truly is. Here, Carl Sagan takes us into an enlightening journey of the human endeavour to seek out the truth about the universe we live in. Here, he shows us that science is not just about the bodies of knowledge we have so lovingly accumulated - but about the process and tool we have used to discover this knowledge -- the scientific method. If you are looking for a book that will inspire, entertain, and most importantly, educate, then look no further. This is one book I will always cherish, and make sure that my children have read before they even begin questioning the meaning of their existence.
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Summary: Sagan's Swan Song..
Review: Shortly after his Death, Sagan's wife (Ann Druyan) was asked if Carl wanted to believe. She replied "Carl didn't want to believe, he wanted to know". And so it is with this work, his last book published in his lifetime, in which Dr. Sagan eloquently and passionately endorses a life, and an educational system, that does best by tempering open-mindedness with a skepticism that acts as a sentinel against wrong thinking. In this book, as in many others he wrote, Carl Sagan continues his battle against the tendency of so many to accept unfounded speculation; whether it be of the religious, scientific or paranormal variety.. Especially interesting to me is his list of fallacious arguments (strawman for example) that tend to blunt honest inquiry and purvey ignorance. Additionally, and at many points humorously, Sagan describes a "baloney detection" kit to aid people in constructing a proper methodology for deciding what merits further serious consideration and what doesn't.. It's rare, in the classroom or out, that I permit myself an emotional commentary on a subject, but in this case I must confess a continuing feeling of loss with regard to this author. His life spoke for reason and honesty, and proved to me time and again that a humanist's life well lived is every bit as meaningful in it's contributions to society as that of any saint.. Sagan's unique blend of compassionate skepticism and scientific eloquence will be missed for a long time yet to come..
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Summary: Excellent! Some common sense for our demon-haunted times.
Review: This is one of the best books ever written! Carl has shown the many great follies of mankind's serial stupidity and offers Science, skepticism, and commons sense as the cure. His "baloney detection kit" should be required reading for all students. That chapter alone will wake one up to the b.s. one encounters everywhere today. This book is a MUST READ!!!
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Summary: One of Sagan's Greatest Contributions: This Book
Review: This intriguing and intellectually challenging work caused me to experience an adjustment in my worldview--an adjustment for which I am quite grateful. Within this book, Sagan masterfully introduces the reader to the concept of critical thinking as it should be, and supports his premise persuasively with more than adequate evidence that comes from either his intense research or his personal experiences. He takes the reader on a journey beginning with the necessity of critical thinking, and finishes by detailing realistic solutions for deploying critical thought. He articulates his viewpoint from both philosophical and scientific perspectives, and does so in an almost entertaining fashion. Each chapter is very engaging, especially when he draws upon his life experiences. The importance of this subject matter to Sagan is very apparent. His heart and emotion are well captured within the words. He critiques the naive in our society, but does so in a very non-offensive way. His open-mindedness is obvious throughout the book. Sagan admits that he may be wrong on some of his theories and is open to changing them if new evidence leads him that way. This is all quite uncommon for the average skeptic, since most literary and well-known skeptics maintain an unshatterable bias and do not hesitate to insult their targets. Sagan unintentionally distances himself from such pseudo intellectualism. Don't miss out on this thought-provoking, personal paradigm-shifting writing.
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Summary: How smart are we?
Review: This is a wonderful book that makes clear the need for science in a superstitious world. Sagan documents the incredible dark side of human non-logic and the consequences in self-induced suffering of people by people over the ages. He offers everyday tools such the "the baloney detection kit" to help sort out the junko logic from effective choices that we make every day. In spite of all the technology we have today, the sobering conclusion you must reach is that scientific thinking is a fragile thing always at odds with the irrational and fearful in us. That primal fear, glossed over by technology, could bring down the house of cards we call our civilization.
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Summary: Seemingly informative, but actually narrow-minded.
Review: Carl Sagan's books and writings were responsible for a great revolution in my relationship with Science. But the more I read him, the more I started to see his weaknesses, and I think his greatest weakness has always been the way he treats the paranormal and the like. He has always been very superficial when criticizing the so called "pseudosciences", a term that, by the very way he uses it, only shows how his outlook on Science and on human Knowledge is short-sighted. Sagan sees Science as the supreme method for looking at and for understanding the Universe we live in, looking with despise on other ways of understanding reality (presently, I prefer to see Science as just one out of many different ways of grasping Nature's mysteries). I thought that in "The Demon-Haunted World" he would do a better, deeper work, because that was the very purpose of the book: criticizing the pseudosciences and naive beliefs. But to my deep disappointment, he just repeated his superficial approach. He does give some valuable information, like when he shows how hypnosis can be misleading (in cases of remembering allien abduction, recalling sexual abuse in childhood, or remembering having engaged in satanic rituals). But he fails to analyse the "pseudosciences" deeper. Only Astrology receives some concrete and sound criticism, when he says that it takes into consideration the precession of the equinox in certain situations and does not take it into consideration in others, and that Astrology does not take into account more recent findings of Astronomy, like pulsars and quasars. Another very bad and dissappoint comment in the book (another example of superficiality!) is when he lists three things that he thinks might have some true basis: reincarnation; human mind influencing computers' processing; and telepathy (apparently, the skeptical readers missed that...!). He simply does not give any further information on that at all. I now consider Carl Sagan a very superficial, uninformative, and misleading writer when arguing either for or against "pseudosciences" or any of our "Demon-Haunted World's" beliefs. If you really want to get a true skeptical analyses on issues like these, Susan Blackmore's works are far more satisfactory. Spare Sagan's works for the very first (and clumsy) steps in scientific initiation...
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Summary: Sagan Sounds a Warning
Review: The underlying message of Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World" is twofold. First, that we are becoming an increasingly scientifically illeterate society, and second, that our ignorance of science is a threat not only to the security of our future, but to the freedoms we all enjoy. Sagan spends much of the book debunking so-called psuedo-science (alien abductions, psycotherapy, astrology, etc). He also makes the point that America is doing a very poor job educating its young about the wonders of science. Sagan also castigates the media for not exercising more scepticism in scientific reporting, and, indeed, mostly ignoring hard science altogether. The book itself is a bit disjointed, with several chapters deriving from expanded magazine articles. Additionally, Sagan pontificates about political issues, and reveals a leftist political bent. He also has a tendancy at times to overemphasize his point. Nevertheless, he has some important points to make, and as a society we would be better off if we paid close attention to many of the issues he raises.
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Summary: lesson in skepticism
Review: Although I normally do not read nonfiction, I truly enjoyed this book. Sagan is an entertaining and engaging author, and in this book he is doing what he does best: making scientific ideas accessible to the public. Sagan makes a plea for skeptical thinking, and he explains why science does not, as many people feel, take the wonder and joy out of life. He argues that it can actually increase these qualities. As a non-scientist, this book gave a me a much more positive attitude towards science.
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