The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan (English)

Description: The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan "A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought." *Los Angeles Times "POWERFUL . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing." *The Washington Post Book World How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we dont understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in todays so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms."COMPELLING." *USA Today "A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity." *The Sciences "PASSIONATE." *San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description " A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought." *Los Angeles Times " POWERFUL . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing." *The Washington Post Book World How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we dont understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in todays so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms." COMPELLING." *USA Today " A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity." *The Sciences " PASSIONATE." *San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle Author Biography Carl Sagan was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking and Voyager missions to the planets and briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon. He helped solve many mysteries in planetary science from the high temperature of Venus to the seasonal changes on Mars. For his unique contributions, he was awarded the NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievment and for Distinguished Public Service (twice), as well as the Tsiolkovsky Medal Review "A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought."--Los Angeles Times "Powerful . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing."--The Washington Post Book World "Compelling."--USA Today "A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity."--The Sciences "Passionate."--San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle Review Quote "A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought." -- Los Angeles Times "Powerful . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing." -- The Washington Post Book World "Compelling." -- USA Today "A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity." -- The Sciences "Passionate." -- San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle Excerpt from Book Chapter 1 THE MOST PRECIOUS THING All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike--and yet it is the most precious thing we have. ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955) As I got off the plane, he was waiting for me, holding up a scrap of cardboard with my name scribbled on it. I was on my way to a conference of scientists and TV broadcasters devoted to the seemingly hopeless prospect of improving the presentation of science on commercial television. The organizers had kindly sent a driver. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" he said as we waited for my bag. No, I didnt mind. "Isnt it confusing to have the same name as that scientist guy?" It took me a moment to understand. Was he pulling my leg? Finally, it dawned on me. "I am that scientist guy," I answered. He paused and then smiled. "Sorry. Thats my problem. I thought it was yours too." He put out his hand. "My name is William F. Buckley." (Well, he wasnt exactly William F. Buckley, but he did bear the name of a contentious and well-known TV interviewer, for which he doubtless took a lot of good-natured ribbing.) As we settled into the car for the long drive, the windshield wipers rhythmically thwacking, he told me he was glad I was "that scientist guy"--he had so many questions to ask about science. Would I mind? No, I didnt mind. And so we got to talking. But not, as it turned out, about science. He wanted to talk about frozen extraterrestrials languishing in an Air Force base near San Antonio, "channeling" (a way to hear whats on the minds of dead people--not much, it turns out), crystals, the prophecies of Nostradamus, astrology, the shroud of Turin ... He introduced each portentous subject with buoyant enthusiasm. Each time I had to disappoint him: "The evidence is crummy," I kept saying. "Theres a much simpler explanation." He was, in a way, widely read. He knew the various speculative nuances on, lets say, the "sunken continents" of Atlantis and Lemuria. He had at his fingertips what underwater expeditions were supposedly just setting out to find the tumbled columns and broken minarets of a once-great civilization whose remains were now visited only by deep sea luminescent fish and giant kraken. Except ... while the ocean keeps many secrets, I knew that there isnt a trace of oceanographic or geophysical support for Atlantis and Lemuria. As far as science can tell, they never existed. By now a little reluctantly, I told him so. As we drove through the rain, I could see him getting glummer and glummer. I was dismissing not just some errant doctrine, but a precious facet of his inner life. And yet theres so much in real science thats equally exciting, more mysterious, a greater intellectual challenge--as well as being a lot closer to the truth. Did he know abo ut the molecular building blocks of life sitting out there in the cold, tenuous gas between the stars? Had he heard of the footprints of our ancestors found in 4-million-year-old volcanic ash? What about the raising of the Himalayas when India went crashing into Asia? Or how viruses, built like hypodermic syringes, slip their DNA past the host organisms defenses and subvert the reproductive machinery of cells; or the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence; or the newly discovered ancient civilization of Ebla that advertised the virtues of Ebla beer? No, he hadnt heard. Nor did he know, even vaguely, about quantum indeterminacy, and he recognized DNA only as three frequently linked capital letters. Mr. "Buckley"--well-spoken, intelligent, curious--had heard virtually nothing of modern science. He had a natural appetite for the wonders of the Universe. He wanted to know about science. Its just that all the science had gotten filtered out before it reached him. Our cultural motifs, our educational system, our communications media had failed this man. What the society permitted to trickle through was mainly pretense and confusion. It had never taught him how to distinguish real science from the cheap imitation. He knew nothing about how science works. There are hundreds of books about Atlantis--the mythical continent that is said to have existed something like 10,000 years ago in the Atlantic Ocean. (Or somewhere. A recent book locates it in Antarctica.) The story goes back to Plato, who reported it as hearsay coming down to him from remote ages. Recent books authoritatively describe the high level of Atlantean technology, morals, and spirituality, and the great tragedy of an entire populated continent sinking beneath the waves. There is a "New Age" Atlantis, "the legendary civilization of advanced sciences," chiefly devoted to the "science" of crystals. In a trilogy called Crystal Enlightenment, by Katrina Raphaell--the books mainly responsible for the crystal craze in America--Atlantean crystals read minds, transmit thoughts, are the repositories of ancient history and the model and source of the pyramids of Egypt. Nothing approximating evidence is offered to support these assertions. (A resurgence of crystal mania may follow the recent finding by the real science of seismology that the inner core of the Earth may be composed of a single, huge, nearly perfect crystal--of iron.) A few books--Dorothy Vitalianos Legends of the Earth, for example--sympathetically interpret the original Atlantis legends in terms of a small island in the Mediterranean that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, or an ancient city that slid into the Gulf of Corinth after an earthquake. This, for all we know, may be the source of the legend, but it is a far cry from the destruction of a continent on which had sprung forth a preternaturally advanced technical and mystical civilization. What we almost never find--in public libraries or newsstand magazines or prime time television programs--is the evidence from sea floor spreading and plate tectonics, and from mapping the ocean floor which shows quite unmistakably that there could have been no continent between Europe and the Americas on anything like the timescale proposed. Spurious accounts that snare the gullible are readily available. Skeptical treatments are much harder to find. Skepticism does not sell well. A bright and curious person who relies entirely on popular culture to be informed about something like Atlantis is hundreds or thousands of times more likely to come upon a fable treated uncritically than a sober and balanced assessment. Maybe Mr. "Buckley" should know to be more skeptical about whats dished out to him by popular culture. But apart from that, its hard to see how its his fault. He simply accepted what the most widely available and accessible sources of information claimed was true. For his na Details ISBN0345409469 Author Carl Sagan Short Title DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD Pages 480 Publisher Ballantine Books Language English ISBN-10 0345409469 ISBN-13 9780345409461 Media Book Format Paperback Year 1997 Publication Date 1997-02-28 Imprint Ballantine Books Inc. Subtitle Science as a Candle in the Dark Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Birth 1934 Alternative 9781578151707 Residence US Death 1996 DEWEY 507.21 DOI 10.1604/9780345409461 UK Release Date 2000-04-01 AU Release Date 1997-02-25 NZ Release Date 1997-02-25 US Release Date 1997-02-25 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:43654414;

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