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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
For the most part an absolutely fantastic book and one that has truly earned its legendary reputation. The central thesis is clear:
1. Science has not done a good enough job of making itself known, and our science education isn't good enough.
2. Because of this, people don't have enough scientific knowledge. In a world that's increasingly technical, it is producing a generation of people who don't understand how the complicated systems and devices they operate and are responsible work function, they merely know how to operate them.
3. Because real science is so poorly understood, pseudo-science and outright bullshit flourishes.
The book was written in 1995, and the central points today are sadly even more true than 30 years ago. Pseudo-science flourishes everywhere and in the United States half the country are using 2000 year old fairy tales as excuses for denying basic human rights to others and the president is advocating eating horse paste to fight off a pandemic instead of getting a medically proven vaccine. It's depressing, which also applies to the parts of the book that deal with issues like the lack of funding for basic scientific research, as the situation has merely deteriorated since.
But for the most part the it's great. Sagan goes through popular conspiracy theories and pseudo-scientific nonsense and explains understandably why real science says the phenomenon probably isn't true, and then introduces real scientific theories and facts that are even cooler. It's really neat, and it's frankly unfair that a man who was as brilliant as Sagan is also this good a writer. Leave something for the rest of us! He also covers some of the historically most infamous times when our lack of scientific understanding has produced disastrous results, like the witch trials that once plagued the world, and how something like that is inevitably going to happen again, if we don't improve things.
A lot of the book is timeless, or sadly very relevant even today despite the book's age, but some parts have aged. It can't be helped, because Sagan wrote the book when he did, but it doesn't change the fact that some parts feel dated, either because technology, or our entire culture, have changed quite a bit in the intervening years.
But it can't be overstated how fantastic most of the book is. Sagan clearly loved science passionately, and that love and his brilliant intellect shine through constantly. He manages to convey just why proper science is so cool and fascinating, and you can't help but get swept up for the ride when he dives deep into some topic of physics, biology or just general science. It's a real treat, and I wholeheartedly recommend the book to everyone.
1. Science has not done a good enough job of making itself known, and our science education isn't good enough.
2. Because of this, people don't have enough scientific knowledge. In a world that's increasingly technical, it is producing a generation of people who don't understand how the complicated systems and devices they operate and are responsible work function, they merely know how to operate them.
3. Because real science is so poorly understood, pseudo-science and outright bullshit flourishes.
The book was written in 1995, and the central points today are sadly even more true than 30 years ago. Pseudo-science flourishes everywhere and in the United States half the country are using 2000 year old fairy tales as excuses for denying basic human rights to others and the president is advocating eating horse paste to fight off a pandemic instead of getting a medically proven vaccine. It's depressing, which also applies to the parts of the book that deal with issues like the lack of funding for basic scientific research, as the situation has merely deteriorated since.
But for the most part the it's great. Sagan goes through popular conspiracy theories and pseudo-scientific nonsense and explains understandably why real science says the phenomenon probably isn't true, and then introduces real scientific theories and facts that are even cooler. It's really neat, and it's frankly unfair that a man who was as brilliant as Sagan is also this good a writer. Leave something for the rest of us! He also covers some of the historically most infamous times when our lack of scientific understanding has produced disastrous results, like the witch trials that once plagued the world, and how something like that is inevitably going to happen again, if we don't improve things.
A lot of the book is timeless, or sadly very relevant even today despite the book's age, but some parts have aged. It can't be helped, because Sagan wrote the book when he did, but it doesn't change the fact that some parts feel dated, either because technology, or our entire culture, have changed quite a bit in the intervening years.
But it can't be overstated how fantastic most of the book is. Sagan clearly loved science passionately, and that love and his brilliant intellect shine through constantly. He manages to convey just why proper science is so cool and fascinating, and you can't help but get swept up for the ride when he dives deep into some topic of physics, biology or just general science. It's a real treat, and I wholeheartedly recommend the book to everyone.
Wish I would’ve read when it came out. Unfortunately very outdated.
Incredible. A must read for anyone who seeks to understand the world around them, and how important TRUE science is.
“No entiendo por qué los adultos simulan saberlo todo ante un niño de seis años. ¿Qué tiene de malo admitir que no sabemos algo? ¿Es tan frágil nuestro orgullo?” –Carl Sagan.
¡Qué gran obra! Es uno de esos libros que todo mundo debería de leer en secundaria. Carl Sagan, uno de los más grandes divulgadores científicos del siglo XX, nos comparte su sabiduría adquirida durante años de trabajo e investigación; y toca temas muy espinosos relativos a la superstición, pseudociencia, pensamientos mágicos y teorías conspirativas que solían estar muy presentes en los años 90’s (años en que se escribió ésta obra), y que tristemente son ideas que siguen estando muy vigentes en pleno siglo XXI.
Sagan establece en su obra que la mayor riqueza que tiene el ser humano es la búsqueda de la verdad. Definitivamente no sabemos nada sobre el universo, pero la objetividad de la ciencia, el conocimiento y el raciocinio siempre va a ser la mejor guía para la humanidad.
Es una obra maravillosa que debería formar parte de sus librerías personales. Recomendado al cien por ciento.
¡Qué gran obra! Es uno de esos libros que todo mundo debería de leer en secundaria. Carl Sagan, uno de los más grandes divulgadores científicos del siglo XX, nos comparte su sabiduría adquirida durante años de trabajo e investigación; y toca temas muy espinosos relativos a la superstición, pseudociencia, pensamientos mágicos y teorías conspirativas que solían estar muy presentes en los años 90’s (años en que se escribió ésta obra), y que tristemente son ideas que siguen estando muy vigentes en pleno siglo XXI.
Sagan establece en su obra que la mayor riqueza que tiene el ser humano es la búsqueda de la verdad. Definitivamente no sabemos nada sobre el universo, pero la objetividad de la ciencia, el conocimiento y el raciocinio siempre va a ser la mejor guía para la humanidad.
Es una obra maravillosa que debería formar parte de sus librerías personales. Recomendado al cien por ciento.
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I've had this book in the basement for 20 years and I finally got around to reading it. I'm glad I did. Despite being a tad dated now, Sagan's thesis that it's the dual modes of thinking - wonder of the real world and skepticism of authority and baseless assertions - that most benefit societies. His clarion call for a people with mature critical thinking skills needs to be heard more than ever. He is clear that belief without evidence is anathema to a free, 21st century society world.
Because it was written more than 20 years ago, the book has lost some of the power it had in the mid-90s. Sagan never mentions the internet or social networks. The rise of Islamic terrorism is still a thing of the future. Though apposite in the mid-90s, some of his examples are less relevant today. This is the only reason I can't give this book 5-stars.
He avoids name-calling and strident rhetoric. He focuses more on pseudo-science rather than religion. The book is largely apolitical but the concluding two chapters are, he acknowledges, intentionally more political than the rest of the book. And these last two chapters are just as pertinent today as they were 20 years ago. (In fact, they have a prescient quality to them.) I highly recommend you read them.
Sagan would be 82 were he still alive. It's a pity he's not around to provide commentary. Recommended.
Because it was written more than 20 years ago, the book has lost some of the power it had in the mid-90s. Sagan never mentions the internet or social networks. The rise of Islamic terrorism is still a thing of the future. Though apposite in the mid-90s, some of his examples are less relevant today. This is the only reason I can't give this book 5-stars.
He avoids name-calling and strident rhetoric. He focuses more on pseudo-science rather than religion. The book is largely apolitical but the concluding two chapters are, he acknowledges, intentionally more political than the rest of the book. And these last two chapters are just as pertinent today as they were 20 years ago. (In fact, they have a prescient quality to them.) I highly recommend you read them.
Sagan would be 82 were he still alive. It's a pity he's not around to provide commentary. Recommended.
I love Carl Sagan. My goal is to listen to everything he’s written just to stay grounded as a person in the universe. His approach to both complicated scientific technicalities and the myriad of things unknown about the experience of being a living thing is broached with such care, intention, and specificity. I always feel like I am listening to someone I trust tell me a story about the cosmos. His writing is a treasure.
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Sagan's eloquent defense of science and rationality in the face of myth and mysticism.