For example, he blandly asserts that psychosis can be cured by a pill. The author takes the position that he knows everything about everything. It's just not the level of content I expect from this icon of my youth and one of the great science communicators of his day. There are some very good and very important ideas here, and some good stories too. A very good Audible Original of 2-3 hours length could be made from excerpts of this book. It's repetitive in places and not really coherent from one topic to the next in others. It feels more like a set of related lecturers that were edited to turn them into a book without enough emphasis on the editing. However, it doesn't seem like it is a coherently written book. Others have dwelt on the seemingly dated UFO issue, but I didn't see that as a major problem. Unfortunately, I found this book disappointing. I was hoping, at least in part, to see what Sagan had said some years ago could be applied in the age of social media, but of course I had no expectation of that being explicitly mentioned. I am a university chemistry professor and I grew up watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos in high school, running around saying 'billions and billions' as if it was both funny and profound. “Passionate.” - San Francisco Examiner-Chronicleįirst, some context. A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity.” - The Sciences “A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference.

Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing.” - The Washington Post Book World A stirring defense of informed rationality. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.

And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions.Ĭasting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.” - Los Angeles Times

A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace

The demon haunted