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Summary: this is why sagan is my favorite author
Review: demon haunted world is a very thought-provoking book. i've read all of sagan's books, and this is a great reason why. one of the more notable parts in the book is when he compares the "witches" of the middle ages to "UFOs" of this century. lucid writing and logical arguments that give new perspectives to old things make this book one of sagan's best.--if you're looking for the mother of all sagan books to get you into his groove, Cosmos is the obvious one... if you liked the movie Contact (which was actually what inspired me to read all his books, which got me into environmentalism, and into all the physics and astronomy i study today), the book is actually much better. quick note on Contact- though it's a novel, and "fictional", it has so many factual elements in it (things that he talks a lot about in his other books, like SETI and how ET would communicate -- through numbers and radio telescopes, etc.). i love reading non-fiction because it has that truth to it that, if it's interesting, gives it a much deeper and urgent meaning-- it actually happened, or is actually real. Contact represents the fictional novel that combines the best from fiction and non-fiction writing. --but i digress. demon-haunted world is an awesome piece. read it. love it. then buy another sagan book
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Summary: A most important work.
Review: If this is the only review I will write for Amazon.com than I have selected well. Sagan's powerful analysis of humanity's lack of reasoning skills will prove to be one of the most important records of our time... "...but I might be wrong." In these words Sagan, and in the not-so-easily aquired ability to utter them, there is ultimate strength and wisdom.
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Summary: The Prince of Science informs and entertains splendidly
Review: Sagan sparkles with Renaissance-man-like knowledge that spans from the social sciences to astrophysics. His book is a clarion call for rational and critical thinking concerning many areas of daily (and not so daily) life. It should be required reading in all high school and college curricula. I consider it the most important book of the past several decades. It does not shy away from those sensitive areas where true believers defend bastions of irrationality, pseudosciences, and rightous inhumanity. Courageously he shines the light of science and clear thinking on problems found in beliefs in alien abduction, rigid assumptions found in religion (which resulted in such atrocities as the churches' witch hunts), and on the gullibility of many people who uncritically accept claims of the existence of ghosts, spirits, and truth in the mass media. This is a book for all Americans!
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Summary: Should be required reading in High Schools and Universities
Review: This book is Carl Sagans' review of part of his life and his passionate love of science, and his plea for a more rational society. However, as per other reviews here, the people most in need of reading this book are precisely the ones who are'nt reading it, and others may read it with a closed mind to begin with. The book is a call for people to think for themselves, using the scientific method, in their everday lives, and give religion (esp. fundamentalists) and many other things, the critical examinations they most desperately deserve. But alas, social inertia is very strong, and the changes envisioned in this book may take a century or longer. We live in a very credulous age, where healthy skepticism (coupled with a sense of enquiring wonder) is nearly non-existent. I see this all around me and find it very depressing. This volume documents all of this well, and in chapter 12 even supplies tools for a baloney detection kit. Sagan does call for sensitivity and compassion when dealing with peoples' irrational beliefs. In later chapters, Sagan laments the illiteracy in science and math in this country, a very big problem, and the inability for a large percentage of our population, adults and children alike, to think for themselves, and possible solutions. We should all be concerned about this. Many more issues are discussed by Sagan in the ensuing chapters. I quote Carl Sagan here (not included in this book). "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". If more people would understand and believe this, the world would be a more rational and better place. Carl Sagan, my mentor, is dead now, but his works live on to inspire future generations.
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Summary: WHAT TRULY HAUNTS THE WORLD...
Review: It's hard to tell sometimes if Sagan was a champion of rational thought,(whatever that's supposed to be), or if he was the modern day version of Torquemada. It can be a little dizzying. When Sagan wrote "Inteliigent Life in the Universe" with Schlovskii, he theorized the possibility of artificial structures on Mars and that's ok...but if Mark Carlotto does that he's a crackpot. If Sagan, in the same book, wonders if the myth of the demi-god Oannes might not be evidence of ancient extraterrestrial visits that's ok...but if Erich Von Daniken does that he's a crackpot. If in "Dragons of Eden" Sagan wonders if there is some connection between myths of Dragons and Dinosaurs that's ok...but if Michael Cremo does that he's a crackpot. Then there is this book...just something disengenuous about the whole mess. You have to admire Sagan for the poetic way he presented orthodox science to the general public and he deserves our deepest gratitude for his work against nuclear madness. But what to make of his duplicity regarding what is, and is not, "rational"? After 2000 years of religious dogmatism and nonsense, do we really want a "scientific" equivalent to the Vatican, with it's High Priesthood and Unquestioned Magisterium? I suspect we do live on a haunted world; but it's not Demons our "pseudo-science" that haunts our little world...it's Dogmatism.
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Summary: A must-read for believers and skeptics alike
Review: I started reading DHW only a few months after I had converted from Christianity to agnostic atheism. I'm glad I did, because Carl Sagan gave voice to a lot of the thoughts that had been stewing about in my mind. It also made me understand how even the most intelligent of us can give in to sentimental appeal, and abandon reason. Perhaps the most important thing that this book did, though, was instill a (rational) sense of wonder. Sagan's fascination with the universe comes through in many portions of DHW. And though some people have suggested that Sagan treats science as a religion, I'd disagree; instead, science is simply the best tool for ascertaining the truth, whether or not you believe in god(s).
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Summary: Sagan's final persuasion
Review: At the time this book was written Dr. Sagan was nearing the end of his life and was well aware of it. This last work was intended to convey with all his gusto; his wonder and profound optimism to that of his lifelong love of science. He also, even to his last breath, invested much time to debunking pseudoscience, which was apparently the last topic he wanted to tackle. Dr. Sagan was desperately trying to convey that all the wonder and mystisism he has known through science. He might not have accomplished that with this book alone but the feature film Contact finished the job. This work was befitting to Carl, always trying to spread his wonder, optismism and his rational approach to all. This book was a wonderful microcosim of his life. Thank you Carl.
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Summary: Sagan is right: We still live in a demon-haunted world!
Review: This is book, i.e. , The Demon-Haunted World : Science As a Candle in the Dark is stark reminder that man still believes in psuedo-science. Turn on the tv and you will see more shows that try to explain alien obductions or the presence of God, then seing a show that presents pure science. No wonder people feel as if they are illiterate when it comes to pure science.
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Summary: Kudos to Sagan
Review: Carl Sagan managed to describe my philosophies on life in ways that I could never have put into words. I found myself nodding my head in agreement as I listened to the recording of "The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark". This work was so insightful and passionate that I immediately went out and bought a copy of the book as a gift for my father. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
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Summary: Should be Required Reading for Humanity
Review: Simply put, this book changed my life. As far as the reviewer who asserts that Sagan and other scientists are autistic, this is the most ludicrous and insulting claim I have ever heard. Talk about arrogant scientists! The notion of diagnosing an entire community with a mental disorder based on a few ancedotal observations betrays the writer's profound simplemindedness, and reveals a total misunderstanding of science. He or she should look up some statistics on scientists' marriages and then read Dr. Sagan's book again.
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