Rating: 
Summary: An inspiring and fascinating journey
Review: Carl Sagan is one of the most brilliant thinkers of our generation and this book is an exclamation mark on a fruitful and alas, too short, career. This book is a sequel to the well-known "cosmos" in which, the author contemplates on the future of humankind on earth and in the farthest regions of space. As always, it is a riveting journey guided by the enthusiastic, humorous and eloquent Sagan who manages to leave the reader with a feeling of cautious optimism despite the many reasons humankind has to worry about its future. An excellent read.
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Summary: When Contact is made, they should be given this book to read
Review: I have read many books, but none have changed my way of thinking like this one. Truly magnificent in the way he explains how insignificant and small we really are and how deceited we have become in our train of thoughts, to think we are alone in this infinitive Multiverse, how we treat our planet; other living creatures; each other, the list is be endless, Carl Sagan opens up the proverbial "can of beans" in all who reads minds, triggering a chain reaction of questions about why? things are the way they are, about the ignorance of religion, war, global abuse, etc.Science and Astronomy made interesting to the mass populus of earth, only one man can do this with distinction, that man is Dr Carl Sagan, open your mind, take a ride, if you only read one book in your lifetime.... make it this one, awe inspiring stuff.
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Summary: Reply to a brief comment
Review: Einstein religious? not at all. I quote from Einstein directly in "The Human Side" Ed. Dukas, Hoffman. "It was of course a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal god and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it" As for the issue of whether religious types should fear the scientific worldview; of course they should since organised science and organised religion are incompatible as long as religious leaders continue to claim authority on questions which can be experimentally determined (which is proving to be just about everything).
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Summary: Read with an open mind, change your outlook on life
Review: A "sequel" to Cosmos, this book shows that the sequel can be better than the original. Sagan teaches us about the universe and about ourselves in an enthralling manner. Every chapter of this book is my favorite. Without question, the best non-fiction I ever read. Get ready to question any pre-conceptions you have about God, the origin of Humankind, and your soul. Pale Blue Dot will change your life. For the better.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring and fascinating journey
Review: Carl Sagan is one of the most brilliant thinkers of our generation and this book is an exclamation mark on a fruitful and alas, too short, career. This book is a sequel to the well-known "cosmos" in which, the author contemplates on the future of humankind on earth and in the farthest regions of space. As always, it is a riveting journey guided by the enthusiastic, humorous and eloquent Sagan who manages to leave the reader with a feeling of cautious optimism despite the many reasons humankind has to worry about its future. An excellent read.
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Summary: Extraordinary
Review: This book was the third Sagan book I read (the first was Demon-haunted world followed by Cosmos) and certainly, it is a most. Sagan portraits the future of mankind as a hopefully, brilliant one. A future that has been, and still is, the dream of science fiction writers (and readers like me) for years. It is hopefully to know that there are scientists who take that picture seriously and encourage readers to believe that it is possible as long as we want it to be possible. But of course, Sagan snaps us in the back and reminds us the dangers the technologies that might make that dream come true will pose us if we are foolish enough to misuse them. And makes us think about the state of humankind and, despite the fact that "the Universe wasn't made for us" -as he put it- to remember how precious, unique and importat we are. The Universe might be crowded of all kinds of intelligent life. But certainly, there is only a human race. This book made me remember a quote by Isaac Asimov: "The future of humanity is in the stars, and that future is to bright to be lost by dumb and ignorant superstition." Two years and a half after Sagan's death, I still miss him.
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Summary: Reply to a brief comment
Review: Einstein religious? not at all. I quote from Einstein directly in "The Human Side" Ed. Dukas, Hoffman. "It was of course a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal god and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it" As for the issue of whether religious types should fear the scientific worldview; of course they should since organised science and organised religion are incompatible as long as religious leaders continue to claim authority on questions which can be experimentally determined (which is proving to be just about everything).
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Summary: Politics, not Science
Review: Make no mistake, just as Sagan reveals his opinion that Apollo 11 was about politics, not science, I tell you that Pale Blue Dot is about politics, not science. And just as it is my opinion that his book is political, it is only his opinion that Apollo 11 was political. His remarks in this area have inspired professors and scientists around the country to parrot that Apollo 11 was not about science, but about politics.
His books are all politico-philosophical, as he is a devoted humanitarian.
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Summary: Philosophy and cosmology at its best
Review: Pale Blue Dot is probably one of the best introductions to astronomy available to the public. In this book Dr. Sagan argues against human chauvinism, praises international efforts of space exploration, speculates about the future of human animal, describes evolution of science and much, much more. The book is printed on high-quality glossy stock paper that makes the reading even more enjoyable. Unlike Cosmos, Dr. Sagan's other book on astronomy, photos in this book correspond perfectly to the text you are reading. Most photos were taken from NASA archives and are of best quality and resolutions available to human kind at the time. The book ,as any other book written on astronomy, is becoming outdated a bit (published in 1994). This ,however, should not sway you from reading this book at all. You can always catch up on new developments on NASA site. There were some new developments in space exploration that Sagan had no way of predicting. I'll give one example. Author writes about the largest moons of Saturn, Titan, and speculates about its surface and composition. It is now known that Titan contains methane seas. So every time you see speculations in book make sure you research on the topic to find newer information that is readily available. There is one more thing. In Pale Blue Dot, author gives detailed information on most of the nine planets and many of their moons. However, Sagan decides to omit detailed information on planet Jupiter from Voyager 1 and 2 encounters (not Jovian moons) and explains that Jupiter was talked about in Cosmos. My whine aside, Pale Blue Dot will endure.
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Summary: A brief comment
Review: I noticed a few negative reviews that seemed to be more about religion than this book, so I wanted to make one brief comment. Sagan isn't liked by fundamentalist religious types since he preferred a rational worldview and an open-minded investigation of reality (otherwise known as "science") to religious dogmatism. Why people like this worry about Sagan I don't know. Einstein believed in God, so if you want a scientific authority to support your beliefs, you can't do better than that. You don't need to worry about Sagan, since even his reputation is much less than Einstein's. It's also obvious these people haven't read Paul Tillich, perhaps the greatest of all Christian theologians. As Tillich very wisely pointed out, faith that has to justify itself isn't true faith.
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