Zusatztext 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 Informationen zum Autor Carl Sagan served as the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo spacecraft expeditions, for which he received the NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and (twice) for Distinguished Public Service. His Emmy- and Peabodywinning television series, Cosmos, became the most widely watched series in the history of American public television. The accompanying book, also called Cosmos, is one of the bestselling science books ever published in the English language. Dr. Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize, the Oersted Medal, and many other awardsincluding twenty honorary degrees from American colleges and universitiesfor his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment. In their posthumous award to Dr. Sagan of their highest honor, the National Science Foundation declared that his research transformed planetary science . . . his gifts to mankind were infinite." Dr. Sagan died on December 20, 1996. Klappentext NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a powerful [and] stirring defense of informed rationality ( The Washington Post Book World ) in a world where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace. LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER • Glorious . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought. Los Angeles Times 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, Pulitzer Prizewinning 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. He 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. Zusammenfassung NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a powerful [and] stirring defense of informed rationality ( The Washington Post Book World ) in a world where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace. LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER • Glorious . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear though...

Autorentext

Carl Sagan

Klappentext

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned astronomer and author of Cosmos comes a “powerful [and] stirring defense of informed rationality” (The Washington Post Book World) in a world where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace.
**
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER • “Glorious . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times

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, 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. He 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.

Leseprobe
Chapter 1
 
 
THE MOST PRECIOUS THING
 
All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike—and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
(1879–1955)
 
As I got off the plane, he was waiting for me, holding up a scrap of cardboard with my name scribbled on it. I was on my way to a conference of scientists and TV broadcasters devoted to the seemingly hopeless prospect of improving the presentation of science on commercial television. The organizers had kindly sent a driver.
 
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” he said as we waited for my bag.
 
No, I didn’t mind.
 
“Isn’t it confusing to have the same name as that scientist guy?”
 
It took me a moment to understand. Was he pulling my leg? Finally, it dawned on me.
 
“I am that scientist guy,” I answered.
 
He paused and then smiled. “Sorry. That’s my problem. I thought it was yours too.”
 
He put out his hand. “My name is William F. Buckley.” (Well, he wasn’t exactly William F. Buckley, but he did bear the name of a contentious and well-known TV interviewer, for which he doubtless took a lot of good-natured ribbing.)
 
As we settled into the car for the long drive, the windshield wipers rhythmically thwacking, he told me he was glad I was “that scientist guy”—he had so many questions to ask about science. Would I mind?
 
No, I didn’t mind.
 
And so we got to talking. But not, as it turned out, about science. He wanted to talk about frozen extraterrestrials languishing in an Air Force base near San Antonio, “channeling” (a way to hear what’s on the minds of dead people—not much, it turns out), crystals, the prophecies of Nostradamus, astrology, the shroud of Turin … He introduced each portentous subject with buoyant enthusiasm. Each time I had to disappoint him:
 
“The evidence is crummy,” I kept saying. “There’s a much simpler explanation.”
 
He was, in a way, widely read. He knew the various speculative nuances on, let’s say, the “sunken continents” of Atlantis and Lemuria. He had at his fingertips what underwater expeditions were supposedly just setting out to find the tumbled columns and broken minarets of a once-great civilization whose remains were now visited only by deep sea luminescent fish and giant kraken. E…