The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It has been many years since I read one of Sagan's books and from how much I enjoyed this one, it has been much too long. Sagan runs down a litany of the paranormal and popular beliefs and probes each one delicately: witch hunting, UFOs and alien abductions, therapy, and more. I stress "delicately" since Sagan's atheism and secular humanism seem eternally human and open-minded, say as opposed to the jaded and crusty [a:Richard Dawkins|1194|Richard Dawkins|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1188068989p2/1194.jpg]. Much of this material came out initially in Parade magazine and here Sagan gets to revisit it in compilation, often including reader's remarks such as on the veracity of alien abductions and what hope there may be for the United States education system. Yes, Sagan goes there with some of his own prescriptions especially for science and mathematics education.
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