The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

by Carl Sagan, Cary Elwes (Read by), Seth MacFarlane (Read by), Ann Druyan (Read by)

Overview

How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience, New Age thinking, and fundamentalist zealotry and the testable hypotheses of science?

Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies as witchcraft, faith healings, demons, and UFOs. 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. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781531888176
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	05/30/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Carl Sagan (1934-1996) was the Director of Cornell University’s Laboratory for Planetary Studies. He played a leading role in the American space program and was an adviser to NASA since its inception. He briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions to the planets. He helped solve the mysteries of the high temperatures of Venus (answer: massive greenhouse effect), the seasonal changes on Mars (answer: windblown dust), and the reddish haze of Titan (answer: complex organic molecules).

For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and the Pulitzer Prize for The Dragons of Eden. His 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage won the Emmy and Peabody awards.

The National Science Foundation declared that his “research transformed planetary science… his gifts to mankind were infinite.”

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Demon-Haunted World"
by .
Copyright © 1997 Carl Sagan.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

	Preface: My Teachers	xi
1.	The Most Precious Thing	1
2.	Science and Hope	23
3.	The Man in the Moon and the Face on Mars	41
4.	Aliens	61
5.	Spoofing and Secrecy	79
6.	Hallucinations	97
7.	The Demon-Haunted World	113
8.	On the Distinction Between True and False Visions	135
9.	Therapy	151
10.	The Dragon in My Garage	169
11.	The City of Grief	189
12.	The Fine Art of Baloney Detection	201
13.	Obsessed with Reality	219
14.	Antiscience	245
15.	Newton's Sleep	265
16.	When Scientists Know Sin	281
17.	The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder	293
18.	The Wind Makes Dust	307
19.	No Such Thing as a Dumb Question	319
20.	House on Fire	337
21.	The Path to Freedom	353
22.	Significance Junkies	367
23.	Maxwell and the Nerds	379
24.	Science and Witchcraft	401
25.	Real Patriots Ask Questions	421
	Acknowledgments	435
	References	439
	Index	449

Editorial Reviews

Eminent Cornell astronomer and bestselling author Sagan debunks the paranormal and the unexplained in a study that will reassure hardcore skeptics but may leave others unsatisfied. To him, purported UFO encounters and alien abductions are products of gullibility, hallucination, misidentification, hoax and therapists' pressure; some alleged encounters, he suggests, may screen memories of sexual abuse. He labels as hoaxes the crop circles, complex pictograms that appear in southern England's wheat and barley fields, and he dismisses as a natural formation the Sphinx-like humanoid face incised on a mesa on Mars, first photographed by a Viking orbiter spacecraft in 1976 and considered by some scientists to be the engineered artifact of an alien civilization. In a passionate plea for scientific literacy, Sagan deftly debunks the myth of Atlantis, Filipino psychic surgeons and mediums such as J.Z. Knight, who claims to be in touch with a 35,000-year-old entity called Ramtha. He also brands as superstition ghosts, angels, fairies, demons, astrology, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and religious apparitions. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer argues that scientific illiteracy and our new-found suspicion of the rational threatens democratic institutions.

Library Journal

A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Powerful . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Compelling.”—USA Today

“A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity.”—The Sciences

“Passionate.”—San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

From the Publisher

Although this audiobook contains information that was last released in 1997, it is still relevant because we humans continue to confuse myths with testable science. One only needs to read widely shared stories to see the effects of this error on such phenomena as immunizations, climate change, and alien abduction. The narration of this thoughtful audiobook is divided among Ann Druyan, who was Sagan’s wife; Seth McFarlane, who reads the preface; and Cary Elwes, who carries the narration for the rest of the book. Elwes has a gentle British accent and a playful lilt to his voice that reflects the author’s homey and accessible style. He does his best to keep the audiobook moving, but its sheer size is a bit of an obstacle, and Elwes sometimes gets lost in the words. Still, Sagan’s warning is real, and Elwes delivers it credibly. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile