Edition |
1st ed. |
Description |
xviii, 457 pages ; 25 cm |
Note |
Errata slip inserted. |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 439-448) and index. |
Contents |
Preface: My teachers -- The most precious thing -- Science and hope -- The man in the moon and the face on Mars -- Aliens -- Spoofing and secrecy -- Hallucinations -- The demon-haunted world -- On the distinction between true and false visions -- Therapy -- The dragon in my garage -- The city of grief -- The fine art of baloney detection -- Obsessed with reality -- Antiscience -- Newton's sleep -- When scientists know sin -- The marriage of skepticism and wonder -- The wind makes dust -- No such things as a dumb question -- House on fire / written with Ann Druyan -- The path to freedom / written with Ann Druyan -- Significance junkies -- Maxwell and the nerds -- Science and witchcraft / written with Ann Druyan -- Real patriots ask questions / written with Ann Druyan -- Acknowledgments. |
Summary |
Science as a candle in the dark. |
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How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? 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. Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, 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.--Amazon.com. |
Subject |
Science -- Methodology -- Popular works.
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Science -- Study and teaching -- Popular works.
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Literacy -- Popular works.
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Science and civilization -- Popular works.
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Literacy -- Popular works.
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Literacy.
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Science -- methods.
(DNLM)D012586Q000379
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Science -- education.
(DNLM)D012586Q000193
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Science. (DNLM)D012586
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Philosophy. (DNLM)D010684
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Literacy. (OCoLC)fst00999859
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Science and civilization. (OCoLC)fst01108517
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Science -- Methodology.
(OCoLC)fst01108313
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Science -- Study and teaching. (OCoLC)fst01108387
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Pseudowetenschap.
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Wetenschap.
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Science -- Methodology.
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Science -- Study and teaching.
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Literacy.
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Science and civilization.
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Genre/Form |
Popular works.
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Popular works. (OCoLC)fst01423846
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Other Form: |
Online version: Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996. Demon-haunted world. 1st ed. New York : Random House, ©1996 (OCoLC)605378552 |
ISBN |
039453512X (hardcover) |
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9780394535128 (hardcover) |
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