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dinsdale 's review for:
Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan
Sagan was excellent at explaining the wonders of science to the masses. Some parts of this book are now a bit dated since in some chapters he uses data from the 80s and 90s; after all, it was written in the mid-90s, but it is still my favorite read / listen. To listen to this was a joy, with Cary Elwes reading most of the story, and Seth MacFarlane reading a few chapters as well. Ann Druyan read the introduction. Great, great narration.
Relating to the book's age, there were at least two instances where Carl addresses about two things that happened after he wrote the book. He talks about how General Relativity is dependent on and would unravel without gravitational waves, which have never been detected. In 2016, LIGO detected them! In another part of the book he maligns those who believe in the face and structures on Mars (as interpreted from Viking I images) and hoped that future Mars missions with high definition cameras would photograph these areas and set the record straight. This happened. NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took high definition pictures that showed that these structures were optical illusions and not the product of an advance race on Mars.
Carl tackles numerous subjects in this book. He is an eloquent writer.
This book should be required reading in America, a country that still embraces pseudoscience and superstition. I can't rate this book high enough.
Relating to the book's age, there were at least two instances where Carl addresses about two things that happened after he wrote the book. He talks about how General Relativity is dependent on and would unravel without gravitational waves, which have never been detected. In 2016, LIGO detected them! In another part of the book he maligns those who believe in the face and structures on Mars (as interpreted from Viking I images) and hoped that future Mars missions with high definition cameras would photograph these areas and set the record straight. This happened. NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took high definition pictures that showed that these structures were optical illusions and not the product of an advance race on Mars.
Carl tackles numerous subjects in this book. He is an eloquent writer.
This book should be required reading in America, a country that still embraces pseudoscience and superstition. I can't rate this book high enough.