Rating: 
Summary: This book is a candle in the dark
Review: With The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan delivers a lively and refreshing parry to today's celebration of charlatanism and credulity. Sagan does not just refute silly beliefs, he gives a context for understanding them and appreciating the real mystery and beauty of the world around us. This is not an authoritarian harangue against pseudoscience (no matter how well deserved), for Sagan's approach is not to dismissively lock doors but to throw them open to the light.This book is especially important for those who are put off by the jargon and technology of science. Like Feynman and Asimov, Sagan was a truly interesting individual who wrote with wit and charm and a fundamental humanity belying the stereotype of scientists as dysfunctional lab drones. He was a scientist whose most lasting contribution is conveying that science is not about facts but about the journey of discovery. Once, a child asked him at a public lecture: "Dr. Sagan, I have a simple question for you: How did the universe begin?" Sagan replied, "I have a simple answer for you: I don't know." Ah, but the joy of finding out - that is Carl Sagan's greatest legacy, and one brightly upheld by this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Are all scientists and mathematicians autistic?
Review: I have an acquaintance who is a Ph.D. in mathematics. He wonders out loud why he and so many of his colleagues are unmarried and do not have close personal relationships with anyone, or, if they do, why they are so terrible at sustaining them. It is obvious to me that he has a mild autism spectrum disorder (possibly Asperger's syndrome) and so do many of his colleagues. This may be what made their fields so appealing to them as these guys (and autism is a predominantly male affliction) are lacking in the natural ability to relate to the people in the world but they can do quite well when they only need to interact with objects and figures. Another symptom of autistics is that they lack what is known as a "theory of mind", that is, they cannot appreciate that others may have goals, value systems, priorities, and belief systems that differ from their own. Autistics are notoriously lacking in the knowledge and sense that others are fully developed individuals with mental outlooks that are not identical to their own and have a validity equal to their own. The idea that anyone else might have a different view of things is alien to them. These two qualities give these individuals their special weirdness. We all know intelligent competent men who "just do not seem to be all there". In fact, something is NOT there- that which makes us fully developed human beings. Having just finished reading Sagan's biography, I find the same pattern in Sagan's life. Sure, these guys are smart, but their call to the rest of us to relate and interact with our world on a purely rational basis is chilly and is probably symptomatic of underlying pathology. They, of course, insist that theirs is the only path to happiness. Those of us who are NOT autistic have no problem approaching reality from several angles and viewpoints. We see that much of human experience and reality is not so easily objectified and quantified and that further analysis, to paraphrase Susan Sontag, is destruction of a visceral experience. I consider science a tool, not as an end in itself. When science can make me happier, I am for it. When subjectivity and mysticism can make me happier, I am for that also. Just as the close personal relationships that non-autistic men have appear to be some kind of illusion to Sagan, my mathematician friend and others like him, so does the supposedly rewarding outlook of relating to a universe of unfeeling, cold rocks, stones, and vast cold empty space as if it were anything to care about, seems like an illusion to me. The autistic and asperger's syndrome guys will say that I am irrational. I will say that they are just a few cards short of a full deck. But guess what? I have no difficulty forming and sustaining close relationships with other human beings. I'm sorry if you do better with objects and math figures. All in all, Sagan's viewpoint is a cold and impersonal one.I'll pass on this one-as, apparently, most of the human race has chosen to, also.
Rating: 
Summary: Truth, but not unmitigated
Review: Anybody reading this book should take the time to learn from and enjoy it. Then, he or she ought to read Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, and compare what Sagan says to Pirsig's musings on Squareness and Quality.
Rating:
Summary: Un libro para pensar
Review: Si eres muy creyente o supersticioso no creo que te guste este libro, pero si quieres aprender algo sobre la razon, la ciencia y el saber, te encantara!
Rating:
Summary: Life changing book
Review: Many are turned off by science since they find it to be cold, desenchanting or even a bit nihilistic. With a clever sense of humor and easy-to read writting style, Sagan proves that science can be an awe-inspiring spiritual experience, when we are confronted with the immense complexity of nature and our universe. He reminds us how to be a good skeptic: one who is open minded to new information, but will only believe after receiving proof. (Which consists of much more than anecdotal evidence )As Sagan states "I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." He urges everyone to think skeptically and to express our opinions while being respectfull of others' beliefs. Unfortunately those who would benefit from more skepticism are the ones less likely to pick up this book. It takes courage to abandon the comforts of an "all-loving" ever present god, immortality, and belief in psychic powers in exchange for the truth. However, Sagan shows us how science has greatly improved the quality of life throughout history, and how the systematic search for truth can be more rewarding than blinded-faith. We should be open minded("Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence") without being gullible. And we must remember how "wishfull thinking" does not make something true.
Rating:
Summary: If you only read one book, read this one!
Review: In a world of information overload, it is necessary to know what is truth from what is mere noise. Sagan provides more than just the compass to find our way through the thick forest of life on planet Earth. He also provides a detailed map to a well-blazed trail.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly it won't reach those who really need to read it
Review: Carl Sagan, as he always did, illustrates how captivating real science is. This work is capable a bringing the joys of science to those who appreciate science fiction more than they do the JPL. Sadly, those who should really read this book (I believe Sagan could convince them) will probably never pick it up. Not to be missed by any lover of science or scientific thought.
Rating:
Summary: there is something that you want to know
Review: This book is about that knowledge, in this book you can find a little about... a lot, Sagan focus himself in the aliens visits and probe why they can't be. For my that logical procesess Sagan use to destroy that myths and open my mind are the greatest part of book. And don't worry even a baby will understand the vocabulary used in this book
Rating:
Summary: Thank God for Carl Sagan!
Review: If you've ever been tempted to buy a book that told you how to have an out-of-body experience, contact the dead, or attract UFOs to your doorstep -- or if you just need some help in sifting through the barrage of New Age b.s. that we're constantly - well - barraged with -- Sagan's book is a great place to start. (And even though I know he didn't believe in God, well, what the hell - thank God for Carl Sagan, and all the others like him, who try so hard to help us be a little less gullible!)
Rating:
Summary: The final statement of a great man
Review: In an age where we are surrounded by psychic hotlines and alien abduction stories, the vast majority of the population is consistently fooled into believing the most absurd of notions. As Sagan beautifully demonstrates, this is not because of our collective intelligence, but a part of human nature. _The Demon-Haunted World_ is easily one of the most important books of this century. High school students should read this book to graduate, at least a little exposure to sense will be advantageous to our growing society. Faces on Mars, aliens, faith healers, and various other practitioners of pseudoscience swirl around us in a pool of credulism and blind faith in the most absurd of Golden Calves. Sagan brings the razor of reason to the face of fallacy and superstition and cuts off delusion and myopic belief. There is perhaps no other person who could have exposed this seldom seen part of the human being. Carl Sagan, the man who loved science so much that he felt in his heart the desire to sing it to the rest of the world, deserves the highest recognition for his accomplishments. I can think of no better than to have _The Demon-Haunted World_ shown to the whole of the world.
|
