Author: Sagan, Carl Title: Demon Haunted World Subject: Science / Astronomy Rank (out of 10): 9 Year Read: 2005 Recommended By: David Brown My Comments: An excellent book that has several great tidbits in it. If you want to check out one of them, search the web for "The Dragon in my Garage". Sagan gives you the tools you need to analyze information critically, while maintaining an open mind. Absolutely necessary for Science. The last 3 chapters you can skip - just blah blah blah about the US educational system. Official Reviews: From Our Editors Disturbingly, in our so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning, with alien abduction, "channeling" past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. In this compellingly brilliant new book, Carl Sagan argues that this is not just a cultural wrong turn, but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms. Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks modern pseudoscience, as well as such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. By doing so, he demonstrates that true scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth, but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions