The late Dr. Sagan devoted himself to the noble mission of rousing us from our stuporous neglect of science. His accessible and passionate books about the cosmos, our origins, and space exploration open doors of perception into exciting realms many nonscientists simply avoid. In this, his last book, Sagan conducts a vigorous inquiry into why science is so "hard to learn and hard to teach" and asks why so many people embrace the sort of "pseudoscience" associated with New Age beliefs or served up in the pages of tabloids. Widespread scientific illiteracy and a dearth of critical thinking are "perilous and foolhardy," Sagan tells us, and that's obviously true. To show us just how deluded we can be, Sagan tackles the popular belief in extraterrestrials and alien abduction stories, debunking a number of half-baked but commonly held assumptions simply by asking commonsensical questions. He moves on to the whole "recovered memory" debacle, then segues into a very convincing discussion of hallucinations. Ultimately, he links today's aliens with yesterday's demons in this lithe, well-supported, sometimes quite wry, and altogether refreshing performance. Stick to the facts, Sagan tells us, "There are wonders enough out there without our inventing any." There are wonders within, too, all we need to do is learn to use them. - Booklist."
| 
| 
