I found this in the vaults under a stack of books being used to press one of Coops flower collections. I read it yesterday in 2 sittings and enjoyed it immensely.
Carl Sagan demonstrates how scientific thinking is necessary to safeguard our democratic institutions and our technical civilization. The book explains why people believe in alien abduction, mediums and faith healers and refutes the arguement that science destroys spirituality.
Most fascinating is the Spanish Inquisition / witch hunt chapter behind the methods of “finding” witches, how to torture people and the fact your damned if you admit it and damned if you don’t.
Chapter 12 features a great “debunking guide” that is recommended to everyone as a sort of Ray Mears style “guide to watching out for pseudo-science and false claims” and if you can borrow this book, get it from a library or steal it from a nearby mentalist – read it for this chapter alone.
However – remember this book was written in 1995 - before the internets – so some of the worry about people not having access to solid information is a little old fashioned. It’s not featured as part of the solutions he offers – only mentioned. Also the inner geek in me also spotted a flaw in his argument about Star Trek – I wont go there, and there is a little too much focus on the idea that numbers are dropping in science based subjects (not true any more).
Other than that it’s a classic read from a great thinker, scientist, debunker and all round decent guy.
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Thanks for that. Always loved Sagan’s style, so will check it out.
Regards
John
PS: Stunned that you were able to read a 400+page book in 2 sittings. What’s your secret ?
well I cant claim to repeat the Derren Brown average of a page every 2 seconds with an almost perfect recall rate – but I can crunch books pretty quickly. Suppose I should create a few posts about it. Keep your eye out.
Derren can read a page every 2 seconds?
Hey Phillis! I want to read all the bits and wiggly things recommended on this blog, but have no money.
Other than investing in Paul McKenna, can you utilise your wonderous brain to suggest a way to make money… ?
iamtooyoungtogetajob x
(also, thanks for the recommendation, looks really interesting and my kind of thing; added to the Christmas list…)
It’s an awesome book indeed. Go read “The Varieties of Scientific Experience” also by Sagan but published posthumously, just as great imho.
The internets point is interesting, I think it’s a bit of a double-edged sword as you can find information to back up any crackpot idea you care to dream up on there, and plenty of nutters to agree with you. But that’s part of the fun of it isn’t it!
Oh you would like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s books too. I’ve only read one, Death by Black Hole, but it’s brilliant.
@phillis: wow, do you want to come round and read my entrire unread book collection and then summarise for me? You must be worlds fastest reader! The book above looks good except it probably destroys every hope of their being a supernatural world, which upsets me because i want to be a wizard.
i meant ‘there’, wrong spelling, sorry.
The Demon-Haunted World is the first overtly sceptical book I ever read, and it remains my favourite. Sagan takes no prisoners, eviscerating the woo.
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Call me a nerd if you will, but I’m kind of interested in this argument about Star Trek.