Rating: 
Summary: ...C.Sagan like a light in the dark...
Review: Its hard to read this book and believe that this man is no longer alive. The lightness of his narration, the sharpens of his ideas and the open direct way that he had to open your brain and literally seed new ideas that up till then seemed incomprehensible, is unique. You really feel like a genius after reading this book, you feel that you can understand thermodynamics, organic chemistry, relativity is probably 15 minutes of casual reading away, quantum mechanics a walk in the park (and let Carl raving about how you need 15 years of disciplined hard education and study to come close to grasping the basics). And that's because he, like very few other in this century had the ability to take the hardest, the most complicated subject of modern science and present it in a way that even the mind of a brain-dead new-age follower would understand. I wont waste time with his critics and the opposition, I just hope that they will understand and accept the superiority of science as a tool to open the little Pandora's box of mysteries we call universe. And I will envy them then because they will have the unique privilege to read his books for the first time. Because this book, and many more will still be around when all the bibles and holy scripts and new-age spiritual guides will disappear. Is this the best of his work? Many, more informed and better trained, say no. I will have to agree with them. They also criticize his exclusion of great thinkers of science such as Kuhn, Popper, Feyerabent and others. But the aim of this book I guess is to approach not the people of science, but those who doubt it. I handed this one over to a friend, a regular reader but not of scientific texts, and complained about "to much information that I can handle". Well yes it is like that and probably that's what makes it hard to put down. And once I will I know I'll read this again.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for all who think religion and science
Review: This work is probably one of the best books ever written on using science as a standard for human thinking. It doesn't slam religion, but rightly respects it. The cracks and wackos of the paranormal world, however, better run for cover. Sagan illustrates how the great magician and skeptic James Randi can disprove all of your scams as hoaxes with slight-of-hand and simple mind tricks. Great stuff! Perhaps the most memorable passage in which he talks with the current and 14th Dalai Lama, in which he asks "what if science were to uncover a truth that disproved a strongly held belief by Tibetan Buddhism? The Dalai Lama quickly responded, "Tibetan Buddhism would have to change" I was as shocked as Sagan was perhaps. This book has many such exchanges -- and gets better and better the deeper you probe into it. Sagan is deeply missed by this reviewer, and this planet. Fair warning. This book will make you smarter and a sharper thinker. Do not read unless you want to achieve these results.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This book is brilliant. It shows through dozens of examples how scientific thinking is superior to magical-thinking. In writing my book about autism, I found it to be common that parents are being caught by pseudo-science and not investigating things for themselves. I would have loved to have interviewed Carl about his comments on this autism phenomena going on right now. He would find it quite interesting, no doubt. It was very clear that Sagan cared very much about our planet(see Cosmos) and that would some readers would see as hate of much of the human race is actually a deep caring that supercedes status-quo humanitarianism. I would recommend this book to the religious right and the radical left. Jeffrey McAndrew
radio broadcaster and author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"
Rating: 
Summary: Skeptic's Bible
Review: Surely no semi-aware person in this unfortunate age of television dumbing down, condescending school textbooks, and widespread ignorance and gullibility fails to note the danger that is inherent in society due to a lack of rational thinking, healthy skepticism, and application of the scientific method among the common folk. This book is a plea to those people, and a "how-to" educate guide to those who do realize and want to do something about it. Perhaps the most interesting chapter in this well-rounded book is "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" in which Sagan demonstrates a "Baloney Detection Kit" listing the checklist for determining whether or not a particular assertion (whether scientific or not) is Gospel. Conversely, he also wisely offers the companion kit, what NOT to do. Among the other interesting things in this book are convincingly argued debunkings of such annoying to rationalist topics as UFO abductions, astrology, faith healing, chanelling, and their indiscernable ilk. Sagan consistently brings up parallel cases from olden times, i.e. witchcraft mania and demo xenophobia, that show that such fears and paranoia have always been around in different forms. This goes a long way towards exposing them for being fraudelent. Sagan also expounds here his views on such subjects as religion (a very rational argument on their scientific insignifigance, while also pointing out its virtues: a balanced view that should open many eyes, without, perhaps, offending the faithful), public education (corollaried with an abundance of letters Sagan has received from readers on the subject, many of them eye-opening), and politics; many of which I agree with, all of which I can respect. This is a very enlightening and useful book, and an elegant manifesto for the useful application of the scientific method and skeptical and rational thinking in our modern world. It's a shame that Sagan is no longer around to parlay such truth to our all-too-ignorant public. Still, the incredible works that he left behind, including this indispensable book, can still enligten us and perhaps make our world that much better for whatever dose of rationality it can inject into our "demon-haunted", close-minded society: science as a "candle in the dark" indeed.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant but flawed
Review: I have at times felt like a soul brother to Carl Sagan. I, too, am educated in science, and a skeptical and critical thinker - and a non-believer for fifteen years. However, I continue to challenge my assumptions, and I'm left concluding after reading this book that Carl Sagan stopped challenging himself. The book is an exceedingly rigorous and disciplined application of empiricism and skepticism. Where appropriate, the book is outstanding - in this case, where he debunks UFOs and other paranormal claims. However, I think he is off the mark when he strays into his comments about belief in God. This book is not the final word about faith. I take issue with Carl on a couple of his assumptions. First, he advocates without real justification that the only way to truth is through skepticism and the scientific method. Yes, science works, and he mentions that it has its limits, but he doesn't seriously consider those limits. Second, I wonder that his perception! of God is too narrow. Sure, skepticism is quite unforgiving of the simple faith of most people, but perhaps the concept may be both bigger and simpler than what he challenges. Is it really appropriate to apply skepticism to the simple question that existence may be about something, may have a grounding that gives us meaning? I do recommend this book, but with a caveat: if you're really interested in finding truth, consider this book for what it is - an outstanding example of the application of skepticism. Carl Sagan was a wonderful popularizer of science and an uncompromising skeptic, and although clearly well read, he was not a philosopher or theologian. Keep challenging your assumptions - the bigger truths may be revealed to you, but only by reading many more authors.
Rating:
Summary: Great book about science
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Personally I enjoyed his discussion of the paranormal the best. I would love for some of my friends who believe in UFOs, Astrology or psychic ability to read this. He uses pretty sound logic to discredit some of these silly beliefs. I only give the book 4 stars because I feel the book wanders into politics sometimes. The book would have been a better read if the author would have stuck to examining pseudoscience and why people believe such nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: Widens your horizon of scientific thinking
Review: I picked this one up after reading Sagan's "Billions & Billions..". I liked the main thrust of this book - scientic (skeptical) thinking. Sagan takes numerous 'case studies' to prove his point. But I think he came up short in describing cases where the ower of mind has been demonstrated time and again in spite of lack of scientific evidence. Cases like Greg Louganis winning Olympics show that not everything is within the realm of 'scientific thinking'. Sagan himself says that there are three things that are worth investigating (I'd be interested to know how far he was successful)..I can't find it now but I remember reading them in the book. I vaguely recall one being telepathy (?). The others sounded interesting too. Also at one place(Ch 17 Page 303 in my edition) he says "Objections to pseudoscience on the grounds of unavailable mechanism can be mistaken..". I don't want to make the same mistake of Sagan's detractors namely, quoting out of context but what he intends is to not ignore ideas for want of proof. This to me seemed contradictory to what he proposes elsewhere (namely strong reliance on proofs). In a different place(Ch 22 Page 373 in my edition) he seems to suggest that "many of our problems..only have solutions that involve a deep understanding of science and technology". While this may be true of "many" (though it's hard to quantify this) not "all" are solvable by Sci/Tech. What about emotional problems ? Problems involving mind have not yet been proven to be solved by Sci/Tech (medicines etc..) In spite of minor deficiencies in explanation this is a powerful book if you want to hone your logical thinking (and so I set the subject of my reivew "Widening your horizon.." implying you need to have some basic scientific thinking to see points in Sagan's angle). Worth reading definitely.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Jumble of Crap
Review: This book is worthless. It's not even worth reviewing. Carl Sagan doesn't address any particular occurance in detail (maybe a paragraph), he just generalizes things. Essentially this book is a waste of time. Read some Joe Nickell instead. The author talks about aliens and UFOs, but he doesn't review any of the important cases. You won't learn anything after finishing this book. He doesn't even show pictures of the things he calls fake. I'm a skeptic myself, but I think this is the most overrated book of the "skeptic genre." This is only for lazy people. I wouldn't suggest this book to somebody in an attempt to convert them, because, like I said, it's worthless. It may, however, put them to sleep.
Rating:
Summary: Light that candle, Carl
Review: Simon, the slight, fair-haired skeptic in "Lord of the Flies," told his peers "I don't believe in the beast." These peers, both friend and foe, did believe, or thought they might, or thought they should, or at least wondered what would happen if they didn't. In the story Simon, alone, confirms beyond doubt there is no beast. He runs to tell the others but is killed for his trouble, for the others want a beast, or think there should be a beast, or at least wonder if life on their island prison would be so stupidly fun if there were no beast.
Carl Sagan was a real-life Simon in many ventures, and never more so than in "The Demon-Haunted World." (The good news is Sagan was not murdered. The bad news is, with much left to do, he was done in by pathogens.) This book should be read by every teacher, every policy maker, and every member of a legislative body.
Throughout the pages Sagan methodically works the reader through the pseudosciences of our day - UFOs, alien abduction, recovered memories, channeling, etc. - and the witch hunts and demonic possessions of centuries past. He doesn't discount categorically, but instead insists that extraordinary claims require an equal level of evidence at any time in history. He illustrates that extraordinary claims in this pseudo realm rarely, if ever, have non-anecdotal evidence that can be corroborated by a third party.
It's not that Sagan wasn't interested in, and even desirous of, the fantastic - note his lifelong search for extraterrestrial life. But the last outcome he would have wanted was to be convinced of a far away intelligence that wasn't really there. He understood that to know what you don't know is just as important as knowing what is, in fact, true.
It was Sagan's lifelong work, since boyhood, to promote the power of real, reproducible knowledge. It was his hope, I think, to begin withdrawing us from our ancient addiction to unwarranted authority. This book was sorely needed when first published in 1995. We need it even more desperately today.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful, mesmerizing, comprehensive
Review: As I finished this book this morning over breakfast, I was struck by twin emotions: deep sadness at the loss of Carl Sagan (I remember his passing, it saddened me then); and a profound sense of gratitude that this amazing man put pen to paper, thus leaving us with a small piece of himself. This book is a "de-bunker" as well as a warning. Sagan calmly leads the reader through a multitude of beliefs that, when examined closely, can not defend themselves at all. Even more important that evidence (in my opinion), he points out that, unlike science, those who believe in these ideas get ANGRY when questioned. Science, he points out, rewards the skeptic. And that is, I think, the crux of this book. Skepticism. Another well laid-out point Sagan makes is that the US is really shooting itself in the foot by allowing children to become more fluent in consumerism than science and/or literary arts. This comes back to skepticism; are we teaching it? Not in my high school we weren't. Overall this book is full of facts and examples to back up whatever point Sagan is making. The examples pull from Sagan's decades of experience and wealth of knowledge, and give the reader a feeling of what it is like to glimpse the mind of a real life genius who took the time to explain things to us dummies in a way that respected our intelligence like advertisers have never done. Not once did I catch Sagan trying to trick me to push this or that agenda, and I truly appreciate the intellectual honesty and respect. I have no children, but if I ever do, I will point to Universities as we pass them and tell the little one that what happens in *those* buildings, with all of their problems, their hustle and bustle, their mistakes...that is the only bulwark we as society have against a second Dark Age. And that comment will be based, to a large degree, on this book.
|
