bugsisshrimp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.75
rmsst62's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for everyone. What Carl Sagan calls out in this book about our embrace of the supernatural over science and our suffering education was true then and even so much worse now.
reasonpassion's review against another edition
5.0
Written at once for the person seeking to know the basics of scientific inquiry and as a socio-political statement about the need for scientific inquiry and support for it in government, Sagan succeeds though reading it over 20 years after initially published one can easily lament that things in America have gotten worse. Still, methodically (and at times with an over-abundance of repetition) Sagan with all his joy in inquiry and the wonder provided by scientific pursuit of truth, provides a still pertinent inspiration for a modern generation brought up with a lack of real science education. While some of the examples used are not as prevalent today, the means of analyzing them most certainly are. Sagan was a giant in his time and continues to exist as such in the imaginations of those who would seek to understand life without recourse to superstition or authority.
dianaj23's review against another edition
4.0
This is a daunting book, but perhaps the most daunting fact about it it's how actual it still is twenty years after its publication. Although the alien craze so characteristic of the nineties (that Sagan talks about for a long while in the book) seems to have died down, pseudoscience, the lack of serious science education and the public's gullibility when shown false gurus or miracle workers are still relevant issues in the nowadays society.
While hard to read at times - for those with no background in science - it does make a great point about the importance of science and the fundamental improvements it has brought us over the millennia. And it advocates for a better understanding of its scope.
While hard to read at times - for those with no background in science - it does make a great point about the importance of science and the fundamental improvements it has brought us over the millennia. And it advocates for a better understanding of its scope.