Great Insights on Being Both Curious and SkepticalJuly 18, 2008 3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Taking a broad and accurate swipe at superstition and pseudo-science, Carl Sagan makes a compelling case for scientific thinking. Though Sagan was clearly preaching to the choir in my own case, I found his insights very valuable. Sagan obviously had done alot of thinking about the subject and first sought to understand why people believe implausible and unfalsifiable ideas, but also tries to explain science in the context of our every day lives.
Sagan asks the question of whether humans are simply not proned towards scientific thinking and to the belief in the supernatural. He then goes on to explain hunter-gatherer behavior from the perspective of science. He points out that the careful and learned observations made by bush hunters of game in Africa, utilize a scientific perspective, carefully examining tracks, understanding from past experiences when and where game are likely to be, etc. Science as Sagan explains it is reasoned thinking that results in success as a species. A scientific mind is what has led humans to dominate the planet.
Sagan also examines the nature of superstition and how easy it is for individuals to be sucked into this line of thinking. Dealing with the scary uncertainties in a dark, daunting, demon-haunted world, science is the candle which illuminates. To superstition, criticism is the enemy, but to science, it is the engine by which progress is made. Science is about asking the hard questions, not accepting explanations at face value.
I think any high school science teacher worth his/her salt, would require the reading of this great book and also require a book report on it. Sagan makes a strong case, that our very survival and prosperity are riding on the rejection of superstition and bringing scientific thinking back from the abyss our nation seems to be moving into. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment.
Should be required reading by every highschool student.July 13, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Fantastic book on the the nature of Scientific research and on the natural gullibility of people, the lure of pseudoscience and charletons.
Book is a farce...Its a half hearted scientific argument!!July 9, 2008 3 out of 48 found this review helpful
I believe I have come from a scientific background. I will try to express my views as plainly as possible. First of all, in science there is no emotion. There are just consequences. There is nothing like a good consequence or a bad consequence, all you have is a consequence!
Author argues, that science has made lives of many people better, solved problems, uplifted human race leading to "better" quality of life. Hence he says you should acccept science and use that for the "better of man kind". However from a scientific point of view there is nothing called "better of mankind". If there is a nuclear explosion and everybody on earth dies, scientifically nothing has happened. Life may originate in some distant galaxy couple of million years from now. There is no reason why our life is any great to be preserved. In doing so, he consistently(unknowingly) over-emphasizes the importance of our lives(Then makes arguments that people who thought earth in the center of universe where stupid).
Also, he ridicules the saying "Ignorance is a bliss". Scientifcially there is no reason why he should? Atleast not that I know of!
Some how the author is placing too much importance on human life(unlike sciences). The book is an emotional appeal of a weak mind for scientic thought process. The book is NOT a Scientific appeal for Scientific thought process.
Good Grief! I love it ... so far.July 3, 2008 1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not a scientist, per say, but I do know that I enjoy any author who is willing to go out of his/her way to appeal to their readers sensibilities and/or reason, before, they launch into the body of the book. This allows the reader to feel some level of comfort that they are reading from the passages of a sane individual and not one who isn't going to pay the reader the courtisy of being upfront and honest.
I think Carl Sagan has done a great job at capturing my interest ... so far, and I can't wait to read on. Good day sir!
Timely Wisdom from a Sage of ScienceMay 25, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Carl Sagan has given a gift of both entertainment and insight to us about how even science itself is subject to fads, fakes and mistaken notions. The questions he poses as models for how to figure out if you are being "bamboozled" will work in many contexts. I recommend this book for every intelligent American. Failure to appreciate the challenge of discerning truths from fictions can sink a democracy. After you read it and use its analysis, holes appear in many popular "scientfic' propositions, not the least of which is the "man is a major cause of global warming" proposition.
