Scientific thinking, Sagan argues, is essential to democracy. What do they mean to people? How should we use them? And how do they affect our lives?Ĭience – or rather its delicate mix of openness and skepticism, and its encouragement of diversity and debate – is a prerequisite for continuing the delicate experiment of freedom in an industrial and highly technological society. Touching on topics ranging from the ethics of the hydrogen bomb to the importance of education, Sagan discusses what science and skeptical thinking truly are. The Demon-Haunted World is a more than a book on witch hunts and aliens Sagan merely uses these as jumping-off points for exploring the role of science in society. In other words, he uses scientific thinking. Sagan does eventually conclude that stories of alien abductions – like demons – are better explained by more mundane causes, but he comes to this conclusion through careful, reasoned investigation. They share certain external features (tales of terror and abductions in the night), but also, both are phenomena that exploded in the public consciousness, despite being rooted in evidence that crumbles upon closer inspection. He then draws a comparison between modern belief in aliens and medieval European belief in witches and demons. Instead, Sagan devotes a great deal of effort to examining evidence of aliens, as well as other possible explanations for supposed alien sightings and abduction experiences. Unusually for a book on science, The Demon-Haunted World does not treat investigations into things like alien abductions as unworthy of skeptical investigation, or beneath the notice of a “serious” scientist. Sagan starts off by exploring why people hold unorthodox beliefs. It’s about aliens and witches, science and society – and it’s probably one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read recently.

I recently read a book titled The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by renowned physicist and science writer Carl Sagan.

The demon haunted world review