Old Book Reviews, Part Three: The Demon Haunted World

The third of my rediscovered book reviews first published in the the SEPA Journal.  The target audience of this review were planetarians and other astronomy educators, but that shouldn't take away from the overall gist of things.  BTW:  I really cannot endorse this book enough!  I've read it a few more times since this review, and I can honestly say that it is one of books that have had a great impact on my thinking. 

The Demon-Haunted World:  Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan
©1996
ISBN # 0-345-4096-9
Ballantine
$14.00
434 pages

 

Buy at Amazon

I have often wondered how today’s society would be viewed by an observer in the distant
future.  When I first posed that question to myself, I came up with answers such as great
advances in medical science, the first space flight, and the unleashing of the atom.  Over
the last few years, though, I started to look around and see things like 1-900 psychic
numbers, the Harmonic Convergence and other planetary alignments, and alien
abductions.  I began to wonder if we would be perceived any differently from the
superstitious peasants of the Middle Ages.

Since I have started working in the Planetarium community, I have spent much more time
thinking about such things.  We’ve all had our encounters with the public and their
misconceptions and misunderstandings about science.  Sadly, many of us are now more
surprised by the person who is well informed and curious, rather than misinformed and
afraid.

In The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan takes a long, hard look at both our present and
past understanding of science and the world around us.  The overall picture he draws is
not pretty.  Even in this age of rapid scientific advancement and communication, we as a
whole still continue to be a superstitious, ignorant conglomeration of people.

The main functions of Sagan’s book are to define science and to show how its methods
and principles are invaluable tools in all aspects of life.  This he does very well.  A
secondary function of the book is to debunk much of the pseudo-science that is prevalent
in the world today.  This he does even better.

Sagan explores the phenomena of alien abduction in great detail, without wallowing in
too much minutia.  Like any good scientist must, he appears to approach the topic with an
open mind.  He lays out many arguments and evidence put forth by the believers of these
abductions, as well as the counter arguments.  Rather than just dismissing the claims, he
tries to discover the truth.  His conclusions are very lucid, even if they are what you
would expect.

Along the way, we discover an almost frighteningly close parallel between the belief in
aliens today and the belief in incubi and witches of yesteryear.  One begins to question
whether we have advanced at all.

Overall, the book was a joy to read.  I must say I was surprised at how easy it was to get
through, and how much of it stayed with me after I was done reading it.  I have only two
complaints about the book.  First, in many parts it feels like a set of shorter essays strung
together, sometimes seeming to shift from one topic to another.  Second, many of the
chapter titles are rather vague.  It’s hard to go back and locate a specific part for review.

Even so, The Demon-Haunted World is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever
read.  After completing it, I felt inspired and invigorated in my work as a planetarian.  I
wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, especially those in the science education
field.