Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Topic

Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Instructions

Immerse yourself in the historical legacy of any or one or all of these scientists–Charles Darwin, Nicolaus Steno, James Hutton, Neil Shubin, Jared Diamond. Obtain any or all of the books listed below, and summarize the essence of each chapter in the book by using a reading evaluation form.

Shubin, Neil. 2009. Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body.  Vintage Books, a divisions of Random House, Inc., New York. 226 pp. ISBN: 978-0-307-27745-9.

Diamond, Jared. 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies. WWW. Norton and Co., New York. 494 pp. ISBN 0-393-31755-2

Darwin, Charles. 1909. The Voyage of the Beagle. Reprinted by Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading, 2004, with introduction by Catherine A. Heinze. New York. 478 pp. ISBN-10: 0-7607-5496-9.

Cutler, Alan.  2003.  The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius who Discovered a New History of the Earth. Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group, NY, USA. 228 pp.

Repcheck, Jack. 2009. The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity. Published by Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, NY, USA. 247 pp.ISBN 978-0-465-01337-1.

Sagan, Carl. 1996. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the
Dark. Ballantine Books, NY, USA. 457 p. NY Times Bestseller. ISBN
0-345-40946-9

Answer preview

Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

Title and Author: Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996. ISBN 0-345-40946-9

Chapter One- The Most Precious Thing

Based on your reading, summarize below why you think the article was written; and list major ideas that it documents

The author wrote this chapter to expose the ways in which the vast majority of the public would rather believe in pseudoscientific concepts, rather than verified scientific findings which take into consideration human fallibility and imperfections. The author begins by reviewing his conversation with an individual who received him at the airport en route to a scientific conference. He reveals how the man’s sincere belief in the fictional civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria- in spite of little evidence of their having existed- proves that present day cultural motifs, the communications media, and educational systems prioritize pseudoscience over real science. The author then proceeds to underline how, over the course of human history, different civilizations have always been quicker to embrace religious explanations for events they could not explain because they did not have the ability to scientifically examine them.

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