Dragons of Eden

Rating:
Summary: Fun, Interesting, and Ahead of its Time
Review: Carl Sagan really does a great job of going step by step, through the brain, explaining the processes, and giving a clear understanding to the reader of how we can see the evolution of our brains from those of lowly worms, to fish, reptiles, mammals, and eventually us.

We are living proof of evolution. Carl Sagan is great at teaching us that. He is funny and interesting, makes his points clearly and concisely. He was (and continues to be) one of the greatest, most skilled popularizers of science ever, period. You'll laugh, you'll think, you'll talk about it with your friends. You will NOT be bored.

Reading this book really made me feel at one with science and myself -- the strange organic computer in my head which is my brain. I was overwhelmed. Even though this book was written over 20 years ago, Mr. Sagan speculates on theories that even now are being confirmed -- such as that structures inside the brain are responsible for spiritual or religious experiences or ecstasy. I knew it was true when I read it because I experienced this ecstasy while reading the book -- and it sure wasn't God pushing the buttons! Get this book!

On a last note, I also read Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan. It was a little more outdated and not quite as interesting. Much of the topic material is the same. You don't, therefore, need to read them both. Just get Dragons of Eden.

Rating:
Summary: la inteligencia, que bichos complicados que somos!
Review: como en todos los libros de sagan me pasa que me hace pensar, conocer mas acerca de los humanos desde su fisiologia a su comportamiento, hay pensamientos que tengo que si no fuera por interrogantes o incetivos que se plantea en sus libros no creo que pudiera haberlos realizado.
me gusta la forma que analiza las cosas te hace participar de las discuciones y pensamientos que expresa.
en este libro en particular me quedo como impresion
que bichos complicados somos!
forma biologica que tenemos permite que tambien seamos complicados en nuestro pensar y actuar , este complejo mecanismo biologico nos da la capacidad de la inteligencia

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Easily one of my favorite books that I never get tired of reading, and I have been reading this and his other books since I was 10 years old. It seems that the kityty person is not intelligent enough to understand the concepts even as elucidated by one of the great thinkers and teachers of our time. I hope that my 5-star review brings the average up to negate the effect of that ignoramus below. What a disgrace to humanity. Perhaps she would be found in the lower right hand corner of the brain/body mass chart?

Rating:
Summary: It Makes you land on reality
Review: Eventhough it is true that this book was written a long time ago, its basic purpose which is to show that men can contruct their own reality when done through an uncompromised acceptance of the power of critical thinking and science, will in the end bring us closer to our true nature. His fantastic explanations about the nature of the brain are only a tool for that goal.

Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking But not his best
Review: I absoloutely love Carl Sagan's works and he was a brilliant man. I especially liked a Demon Haunted World, and Contact, and in flipping through Cosmos that looks very interesting too. This book is thought provoking, but is very technical because of the topic presented. It's not for everyone. But considering the complexity of human intelligence, it is pretty graspable. The critisism for this book would have to be that it is over 25 years old and dated and that he was much younger and i believe that as he got older his writing style changed and grew and his writing became less technical and easier to grasp but still intelligently written. Its amazing to read this book right after one of his later books and see the difference. He was a brilliant man.

Rating:
Summary: Turn your Thinking about Thinking Upsidedown.
Review: I had certainly heard of Carl Sagan, but only in terms of cosmology. I had no idea that he wrote extensively on the field of evolutionary biology-stimulated by his wife, the biologist Ann Druyan. My field is not science, so The Dragon's of Eden was my first encounter with the idea of the tripartite brain. The idea does not originate with Sagan, as he himself points out, but this slender volume makes the idea quite assessable for the lay person and, more importantly, it creatively explores the idea's possible implications. Although I read this book years ago, I have thought of it several times a week since then, as I speculate upon some of the biological causes of human behavior. Newer models of the brain have already proved some of the basic ideas in this book as a bit oversimplified, but if you are looking for an introduction to speculating about how the brain's evolution may shape human behaviors, this is great place to start. I found the book a "mind blower"-and I always pick it up used when I see it to give to friends. Prepare to have your perception of perception itself turned upside down.

Rating:
Summary: Turn your Thinking about Thinking Upsidedown.
Review: I had certainly heard of Carl Sagan, but only in terms of cosmology. I had no idea that he wrote extensively on the field of evolutionary biology-stimulated by his wife, the biologist Ann Druyan. My field is not science, so The Dragon's of Eden was my first encounter with the idea of the tripartite brain. The idea does not originate with Sagan, as he himself points out, but this slender volume makes the idea quite assessable for the lay person and, more importantly, it creatively explores the idea's possible implications. Although I read this book years ago, I have thought of it several times a week since then, as I speculate upon some of the biological causes of human behavior. Newer models of the brain have already proved some of the basic ideas in this book as a bit oversimplified, but if you are looking for an introduction to speculating about how the brain's evolution may shape human behaviors, this is great place to start. I found the book a "mind blower"-and I always pick it up used when I see it to give to friends. Prepare to have your perception of perception itself turned upside down.

Rating:
Summary: Great ideas
Review: I have read this book nearly 30 years after it been written and, though likely Science has gone forward, I feel that it is still valid, and that Carl Sagan has always been a great popularizer.
You shouldn't miss "The Demon Haunted World", another must-have.

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking...but difficult to read....
Review: I heard this book was thought provoking and it certainly lived up to it's reputation. However, it is very difficult to read and takes a long time to consider each page. Because of that, I have not yet finished the book - though I do plan to one day.

Rating:
Summary: Really makes you think
Review: I was forced to read this book for my AP English class, but for once I actually enjoyed the assignment. Sagan has an uncanny ability to turn extreme scientific facts and launguage into something that is easly comprehended by all. Wow, this book really makes you think. You begin to question you prier beliefs on the human brain. It's also interesting to think that we are closely related to reptiles and at night, our ancestors come out...