Как бихме могли да вземем интелигентните решения относно нашия живот - който все повече зависи от технологиите, - ако не разбираме разликите между ...
read full description
reviews
Aug 14, 2011
Dan
rated it: 
I sit before my computer, typing out a review of what is my favorite book. I’m daunted by the magnitude of this task, having just finished the book for the fourth or maybe fifth time. I wish I could remember when I bought this book, likely close to a decade ago, but I’m sure that I must have been awestruck to discover a book written by a man who has influenced my life and my interests to such a great extent.
One of the great memories of my early life was that of waiting to plop down i More...
One of the great memories of my early life was that of waiting to plop down i More...
0 comments
like
(18 people liked it)
Sep 19, 2008
Chris
rated it: 
I miss Carl Sagan.
Ever since I was a kid, Carl Sagan has been the face of science for me. I would watch Cosmos and feel a sense of amazement that the universe was as wonderful as it was. He'd be there in his turtleneck and his blazer, smiling as though he'd just heard the coolest secret and he wanted to share it with you. And he did, except that it wasn't his secret. Hell, it wasn't a secret at all - it was the combined results of thousands of years of thoughts, deductions, mista More...
Ever since I was a kid, Carl Sagan has been the face of science for me. I would watch Cosmos and feel a sense of amazement that the universe was as wonderful as it was. He'd be there in his turtleneck and his blazer, smiling as though he'd just heard the coolest secret and he wanted to share it with you. And he did, except that it wasn't his secret. Hell, it wasn't a secret at all - it was the combined results of thousands of years of thoughts, deductions, mista More...
5 comments
like
(34 people liked it)
Dec 08, 2007
Trevor
rated it:
Sagan has been a hero of mine since I saw Cosmos years and years ago. Now that was one of the truly great science documentaries and one that, on the subject of physics, has rarely been bettered.
This is a supurb book. Many people say things like, "I've no idea how people without a belief in the supernatural can bare to live in this world". Well, Sagan gives a powerful answer here.
Sagan understood the infinite joy that comes from understanding something about the More...
This is a supurb book. Many people say things like, "I've no idea how people without a belief in the supernatural can bare to live in this world". Well, Sagan gives a powerful answer here.
Sagan understood the infinite joy that comes from understanding something about the More...
0 comments
like
(7 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2009
Lightreads
rated it: 
Hey, so, guess what? People who read the Weekly World News are stupid, but scientists are awesome! Did you know that?
I just put this book down, 175 pages in. It's not that I disagree with the thesis, because I actually don't at all. Sagan uses the widespread belief in alien abductions to talk about the need for more critical thinking in this world. And I'm totally there -- yes, for the love of God, teach people to distinguish between fact and what they want to be fact. But Sagan goes More...
I just put this book down, 175 pages in. It's not that I disagree with the thesis, because I actually don't at all. Sagan uses the widespread belief in alien abductions to talk about the need for more critical thinking in this world. And I'm totally there -- yes, for the love of God, teach people to distinguish between fact and what they want to be fact. But Sagan goes More...
6 comments
like
(10 people liked it)
Jan 08, 2009
David
rated it: 
Full disclosure here, I did not finish this book; I made the decision to stop reading it about 100 pages in. I expected this book to be something different than what it turned out to be--at least as far as I got into it. I was expecting alternate scientific explorations of many supernatural and superstitious beliefs but got condescending ranting instead. Basically, the beginning of the book is full of finger-pointing at the Weekly World News and Beavis and Butt-Head as sources of ignorance and m
More...
2 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Apr 19, 2008
Tyler
rated it:
Sagan shows why learning to think in a contingent universe is ... well ... absolutely necessary. My reaction first reading the book was, "I've known for a long time that something's wrong. Now I know what." The discussions the author engages in in the book are eye-openers.
I cannot recommend this book to those who are highly sensitive about their credos, but on other hand, I don't think more open-minded religious people will at all see this as the scathing attack many opi More...
I cannot recommend this book to those who are highly sensitive about their credos, but on other hand, I don't think more open-minded religious people will at all see this as the scathing attack many opi More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Feb 21, 2008
Arthur
rated it:
I wish I could give 6 stars to this book (but I guess that just indicates that I give 5 stars too easily). Carl Sagan covers a lot of ground in this book. One of his most important themes is that the scientific method is the best tool we have for separating fact from fantasy. He laments that a general lack of skepticism leads many people to believe in superstitions that can be easily explained. He devotes several chapters to the widespread belief in UFOs and a government conspiracy to hide the "
More...
Jan 23, 2008
John
rated it:
My first Sagan book was Cosmos, which led me to this one. While Cosmos was good, this was great. It really opened my eyes to how important science is, and the underlying principles of science, and simultaneously how organized religion is virtually 100% philosophically opposed to science.
Religion: Don't think, don't reason, don't use logic. We'll (religious leaders) tell you what to think, what our god(s) wants you to think/do. Our holy book written centuries ago by primitiv More...
Jul 01, 2008
Krishan
rated it:
Magnificent. Carl Sagan takes us on a mind-expanding tour of the landscape of scientific knowledge and the oceans of human ignorance. This deeply skeptical look at our ideas is more than expose of superstition, but an exercise in constructive criticism.
Sagan shows us that science and reason are our greatest tools for understanding and moral judgment.
An excellent companion to the recent 'new atheism' books by Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennet etc...
Sagan shows us that science and reason are our greatest tools for understanding and moral judgment.
An excellent companion to the recent 'new atheism' books by Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennet etc...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 13, 2009
Brooke
rated it:
For a while now, I've been saying that I need to start reading some non-fiction. For all the time I spend reading, some of that time should be spent learning about things that are new to me. But then I'd groan and say that I'm not yet far enough removed from being a student to be able to do that for fun.
A GoodReads friend recommended this one during a discussion of sleep paralysis and aliens, and I decided that I should approach this like ripping off a band-aid - I grabbed it off the More...
A GoodReads friend recommended this one during a discussion of sleep paralysis and aliens, and I decided that I should approach this like ripping off a band-aid - I grabbed it off the More...
Dec 17, 2009
Lou
rated it:
If you think you're open minded, you are not, until you've read this book. Give it a try. I dare you.
--Wag--
--Wag--
2 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Feb 17, 2008
Erin
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Nov 14, 2008
melydia
rated it:
Have you ever read something that filled you with such furvor that you wanted to write your own thoughts along those same lines, but whenever you tried you found you did nothing but repeat the original article?
That's been me all over the place with The Demon-Haunted World. I want to ramble about the wonder of science, the importance of skepticism, the fact that school all but completely robbed me of any desire to learn, the dangers of pseudoscience, the intrinsic value of basic resea More...
That's been me all over the place with The Demon-Haunted World. I want to ramble about the wonder of science, the importance of skepticism, the fact that school all but completely robbed me of any desire to learn, the dangers of pseudoscience, the intrinsic value of basic resea More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 04, 2008
Mark
rated it:
Sagan's book is a predecessor to Sam Harris' "The End of Faith". However, I feel that Sagan is a much more literary writer. This book is a nice-drive-down-a-country-road read while Harris' book is more of a get-on-down-the-road read. I really enjoyed this book because it was so comfortable.
Many of the points and arguments in this book are not new, in fact few of them are, but Sagan's style and interesting approach (the world is demon-haunted?!)to the points refresh them and as More...
Many of the points and arguments in this book are not new, in fact few of them are, but Sagan's style and interesting approach (the world is demon-haunted?!)to the points refresh them and as More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Sean
rated it:
Carl Sagan's polemic against pseudoscience and apologia for scientific skepticism and post-Enlightenment values. Much of the book is devoted to a fascinating description of the intimate similarities among UFO abductions, recovered memories, fairy myths, and the European witch hunts. Along the way he touches on on a range of other fringe ideas, including crop circles, Roswell, faith healing, and ESP.
While the debunkings are literate and interesting, I couldn't help feeling the boo More...
While the debunkings are literate and interesting, I couldn't help feeling the boo More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 23, 2008
Chris
rated it:
Fantastically well-written. Sagan has the gift of explanations that illuminate in terms perfectly appropriate for his audience. I believe this is because he has never lost the childish sense of wonder over science. Any work he does, he is convinced it is fantastically interesting, not just good science.
In this brief book, Sagan explains several aspects of how science influences everyday life, calling us all to become more involved... including a call to his fellow scientists to get More...
In this brief book, Sagan explains several aspects of how science influences everyday life, calling us all to become more involved... including a call to his fellow scientists to get More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 12, 2011
Graham
rated it:
This book revealed to me the main reason why I find religion to be unbelievable: religion is not falsifiable. Granted lacking falsifiability does not logically make it false, however for me it puts it in the realm of Descarte's powerful deceiver, i.e. mental masturbation. Everything else in life is falsifiable, including the oft-referenced love and complex relationships with other humans. They ascribe to the senses, there is feedback. Religious apologetics are constructed to be untestable an
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 02, 2012
Urban
rated it:
this book sets out to debunk a lot of the crop-circle, ufo, faith-healer mythology that is out there in the world, and i picked it up for precisely this reason. it’s not that i don’t want to believe on some level, but i also am interested in all explanations for phenomena, particularly about some things. sagan spends most of his time in this book examining ufo claims, but also ventures into other subjects, and ends the book by criticizing the lack for solid education (and specifically science ed
More...
Mar 17, 2009
Darrell
rated it:
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan is the perfect book to start with for anyone interested in skepticism. He explains the difference between science and psuedoscience and why science is a good thing. While some may point out that science brings unprecedented destruction in the form of ever more powerful weapons, Sagan reminds us that “advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.” (11)
He brings up an interesting c More...
He brings up an interesting c More...
Dec 22, 2011
Al
rated it:
When I was sixteen or seventeen, two events occurred in my life that opened up my mind to an entirely different way of thinking. The first; I was exposed to the ideas of evolution for the first time. These ideas have enriched my life and my understanding of the scientific process beyond belief (no cheesy pun intended). The second; I became friends with a beautiful young woman. It wasn't the beauty of this young woman that changed my life, it was a number of conversations that I was fortunate eno
More...
Sep 19, 2011
Христо
rated it:
Светът е населен с демоните на псевдонауките според Карл Сейгън: http://www.knigolandia.info/2009/11/blog...
“Науката е нещо повече от натрупани знания. Тя е начин на мислене… Научният начин на мислене е едновременно творчески и дисциплиниран… Науката ни подканя да изложим фактите, дори и те да не отговарят на собствените ни превзети разбирания… Науката изгради цивилизацията, а псевдонауката ще го разруши.”
Това са малки откъси от прекрасната книга “Свят, населен с де More...
“Науката е нещо повече от натрупани знания. Тя е начин на мислене… Научният начин на мислене е едновременно творчески и дисциплиниран… Науката ни подканя да изложим фактите, дори и те да не отговарят на собствените ни превзети разбирания… Науката изгради цивилизацията, а псевдонауката ще го разруши.”
Това са малки откъси от прекрасната книга “Свят, населен с де More...
Apr 11, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
I have been on a Sagan jag these past few days re-reading some of my favorites.
This is one of his best.
Brace yourself for an engrossing discussion on the subject of science in relation to our modern world.
Go back in history to the beginning of time and trace the development of scientific, and not so scientific, thought leading up to the present day. Delve into the relationships between science, religion, magic, alien life forms, and many more fascinating int More...
This is one of his best.
Brace yourself for an engrossing discussion on the subject of science in relation to our modern world.
Go back in history to the beginning of time and trace the development of scientific, and not so scientific, thought leading up to the present day. Delve into the relationships between science, religion, magic, alien life forms, and many more fascinating int More...
Mar 23, 2011
Mitch
rated it:
I was very disappointed in this book. I serously don't understand why people consistantly rated this book so highly. I'm really out of synch on this one...and here's why:
Carl obviously had an ongoing religious relationship with science and boy, is he ever tiresome about it. What a reckless evangelist! He condemns everything that does not stand up to science's demonstrable standards (whether such application is appropriate or not) and then....he violates the same standards time an More...
Carl obviously had an ongoing religious relationship with science and boy, is he ever tiresome about it. What a reckless evangelist! He condemns everything that does not stand up to science's demonstrable standards (whether such application is appropriate or not) and then....he violates the same standards time an More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Sep 13, 2010
Shaun
rated it:
I was on a Sagan bender after reading Cosmos for the 3rd time and loving it. I started Contact but didn't finish it. This book left me similar sort of feeling. It is an excellent dissertation and defense of the scientific method. It presents science as a tool, that while imperfect is always improving in its discovery of the truth. Compared to other routes to knowledge, mainly philosophy and religion, it offers empirical data and refuses arguments from authority, which gives it a leg up over
More...
Apr 02, 2010
Steven
rated it: 
While TDHW remains an eloquent exhortation to embrace skeptical thinking, the 17 years since its original publication has imbued it with a slightly melancholic air.
Sagan emphatically (though never overbearingly) argues for science as a sort of cultural panacea, but I fear these are lessons few will take to heart--you only have to look at the nutballery associated with the global warming deniers and evolutionists in Kansas to see just where on the cultural hierarchy science still sta More...
Sagan emphatically (though never overbearingly) argues for science as a sort of cultural panacea, but I fear these are lessons few will take to heart--you only have to look at the nutballery associated with the global warming deniers and evolutionists in Kansas to see just where on the cultural hierarchy science still sta More...
Dec 24, 2009
Daniel
rated it:
Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World is more than just a passionate pro-science polemic with a clunky title. It is a treatise on the proper acquisition, use, distribution and revision of knowledge. This authoritative attitude permeates the twenty-five chapters of his book, which focus on the nature of scientific inquiry, the identification and impact of pseudosciences and how they affect society.
Put plainly, Sagan’s book is kryptonite for anyone who devoutly believes or wants to be More...
Put plainly, Sagan’s book is kryptonite for anyone who devoutly believes or wants to be More...
Nov 08, 2009
Nicholas
rated it:
It's hard to write about this book, because it contains so much. Part scepticism, part politics, and part popular science, Sagan (and, in some chapters, his wife Ann Druyan) moves nimbly from the dubious claims of psychics and fortune tellers in one chapter, to James "The Amazing" Randi's hilarious exposé of the credulity of news networks and the public at large, to the sheer beauty of the natural world.
Sagan is considerate of everybody's views to an extent that seemed firs More...
Sagan is considerate of everybody's views to an extent that seemed firs More...
Oct 29, 2009
Kurt
rated it:
I really miss Carl Sagan. He was such an interesting and eloquent spokesman for the importance of science and education in our country and in the world. We desperately need another Carl Sagan (or better yet, 100 of him) today as science is being attacked by persuasive ideologues who prefer comfortable delusions over inconvenient truths.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is this: "Part of the duty of citizenship is not to be intimidated into conformity."
The Demon Haunted World More...
One of my favorite quotes from the book is this: "Part of the duty of citizenship is not to be intimidated into conformity."
The Demon Haunted World More...
Jul 10, 2011
Jorge
rated it:
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
"The Demon-Haunted World" is a fabulous book that praises science, its methodology and why it's so important to embrace it and understand it for the sake of democracy. Dr. Sagan illustrates the power of critical thinking through science to debunk superstitions and pseudoscience. This enlightening 480-page book is composed of the following twenty-five chapters: 1. The Most Precious Thing, 2. Science and Hope, More...
"The Demon-Haunted World" is a fabulous book that praises science, its methodology and why it's so important to embrace it and understand it for the sake of democracy. Dr. Sagan illustrates the power of critical thinking through science to debunk superstitions and pseudoscience. This enlightening 480-page book is composed of the following twenty-five chapters: 1. The Most Precious Thing, 2. Science and Hope, More...
