The Demon-Haunted World Science As a Candle in the Dark

I recommend this book because it provides a skeptical, scientific based approach when considering really far out concepts such as UFOs, paranormal actvity and extraterrestrials. Americans spend lots of time beleiving in weird things without requiring proof that these things exist. Any open minded, thoughful persons should read this book whether you agree with the late Dr. Sagan or not.

With tears in my eyes, I put down the Post when I heard Carl Sagan died in 1998. A man who taught the world that physics and astronomy are easy principles that can be understood by many non-scientists. In this book Carl wrote about his dreams that someday Television stations will include, forces, momentum, gravity when discussing sports to make science interesting to children; a true "King" in...more

With tears in my eyes, I put down the Post when I heard Carl Sagan died in 1998. A man who taught the world that physics and astronomy are easy principles that can be understood by many non-scientists. In this book Carl wrote about his dreams that someday Television stations will include, forces, momentum, gravity when discussing sports to make science interesting to children; a true "King" in science. He despised scientists who used the application of it for the destruction of humanity. A great philosopher, a scientist, an activist, an author and a historian, I sure would have given a couple of months of my life for him to live. A writer of the Cosms and the producer and narrator of the television series Cosmos. What a guy!!!   hide

Stunning, elegant, imparts a sense of awe, and wonder, and calm, rational comfort. For those of you too young to know, read this and you just might miss this guy as much as I do. This guy is like everyone's favorite teacher, who effortlessly illuminated the subject matter, and arose a passion to learn within you. The best science writer to ever publish (sorry, Richard Dawkins).

A must-read introduction to scientific skepticism.

The Demon-Haunted World is a marvelous book - Carl Sagan calls for us to exercise skepticism when dealing with the pseudo-sciences, and argues fervently that the world of science is full enough of wonders already, if we're only willing to explore it. His enthusiasm for the subject translates into his passionate yet easy to understand writing style. Part of Sagan's goal was to...more

The Demon-Haunted World is a marvelous book - Carl Sagan calls for us to exercise skepticism when dealing with the pseudo-sciences, and argues fervently that the world of science is full enough of wonders already, if we're only willing to explore it. His enthusiasm for the subject translates into his passionate yet easy to understand writing style. Part of Sagan's goal was to demystify & popularise science so as everyone has an opportunity to be inspired by the world around them. Go on, he urges us, try Science.   hide

Everybody on Earth should read this book.

A scattered collection of essays put together as a readable introduction to skeptical thought & that fails only by way of tending to favor a over-simplistic approach which only looks at extremes and self-evidently absurd/tabloid type examples of paranormal claims.

Great book. Picked it up every chance I could. This is more of a book report than a review :-) Carl Sagan is not out to destroy faith and religion as you might guess from the synopsis. He is deeply respectful but he wants to ensure that belief a higher being does not prevent you from exploring this Universe to its fullest. I think one distinction where he fails to be explicit is the...more

Great book. Picked it up every chance I could. This is more of a book report than a review :-) Carl Sagan is not out to destroy faith and religion as you might guess from the synopsis. He is deeply respectful but he wants to ensure that belief a higher being does not prevent you from exploring this Universe to its fullest. I think one distinction where he fails to be explicit is the political leaders of a religion vs the followers. For example, I find it hard to believe that most of the Christian population supported the Inquisition as he makes it seem. For this possibly misleading information, I rate 4.5. He seems to believe that science and science alone can inspire ethical behaviour in mankind. As we have nothing but science and politics to blame for the H-bomb, I'm not sure his conclusion is correct here. I don't know of any religion that would cause the same kind of destruction on its own. However, I don't really believe that a religion with holy keepers is necessary to inspire ethical behaviour either. If we were a world of ethical people and we devoted our lives to finding out the truth about the Universe, I think we would be better off for it. That's my main take from the book. Chapter 19 is a great read for homeschoolers and people who care about real education, not just marks on a paper. Ok, I'm done.   hide

An eloquent argument for rationalism and skepticism.