Customer Reviews
The Gospel According to St Carl. - By: Mr. R. P. J. Martin, 29 Oct 2008 
Carl Sagan, the great American space scientist & extraterrestrial investigator. An honest, down-to-earth chap who believedin the classic guiding principles of science - fairness, inclusion of all data no matter where it might lead you & open-mindedness.
All good, lofty scientific ideals. And on reading the first few chapters, Sagan carefully constructs the image of scientist as impartial truth seeker & destroyer of charlatans. However, Sagan rapidly falls prey to the very traits he claims to abhor. UFOs & crop circles can all be neatly explained away as hoaxes or grand hallucinations, `alien abduction's' are all the result of some vaguely-explained form of sleep paralysis or some kind of contemporary religious mania.
Unfortunately for the many people who are not widely readin any of these exotic subjects, one could come away the impression that Sagan had solved it all. Even though he would like to have the reader believe that "he could be wrong", time & time again, well-known debunkers are used as rock solid evidence to prop his spurious conclusions & relevant researchers & substantial evidence that contradicts Sagan's beliefs is just ignored completely. Whatever happened to following the data no matter where it might lead?
Frequently, Sagan offers no evidence to support his claims. Indeed one could be forgiven that he tried to argue his case by simply thinking we would credulously accept his opinions on the basis that they were written by Carl Sagan. He never really shows any evidence or appeared to have done any research into these controversial subjects.
For those who would like to have an object lessonin evidential sleights of hand & wholesale misrepresentation of events, please buy this book.
PS: I seein the gushingly sycophantic reviews that Sagan is now attributed with having disproved the existence of UFOs! Well I never thought proving a negative was considered rational...at least not since the witchhunts.
Sharpen your critical reasoning skills - By: calmly, 11 May 2008 
It's hard enough to understand how Sagan could know as much about astronomy as he did, let alone the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. But that his range of knowledge was also as wide as this book demonstrates on pseudo-science & supernaturalisms is stunning, even more that he could write so well on all these topics.
I wasn't aware just how evil the treatment of witches was: I'm glad Sagan spared at least some of the details. That chapter alone was worth the book for me. Nor was I aware to what extent people actually did believe that demons were real. The attitudes & behavior about witchcraft & demons truly makes me feel I do not understand at all the mindset at the time of Rome or even during the Middle Ages. The chapter on James Randi's Carlos hoax I'll treasure: next time someone tries to sell me on telepathy or reincarnation, I hope I think of this immediately. Good information & examples here as well about hypnoisis, UFO's, hallucinations & a good deal more. This book amounts to an implicit coursein choosing a scientific outlook & becoming, as Sagan would have said, a "baloney detector".
It is appalling how small a percentage of peoplein the U.S. accept evolution & natural selection. Have we really needed brilliant scientists like Sagan & Dawkins to have wasted time trying to convince people of just how well-founded evolution is? And yet readingin this book about how many people believein UFOs, telepathy, ghosts, astrology, it puts the unwillingness to acknowledge evolution into perspective. Scary? Or do you doubt that it is? In either case, this easy to read book is packed with reasons to prefer a scientific approach to life. Sagan's lectures in
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
provide good reasons not to feel threatened by science but rather feel welcome its helpin enhancing our sense of wonder about our lives ... & turning to knowledge instead of being distracted by foolish beliefs.
It changed how I think! - By: S. Galer, 04 Mar 2008 This book was given to me when I was 15 & it literally changed how I think!
The book covers things like pseudoscience & how we should all consider things rather than accepting what we see/hear/read. It talks about modern situations where hundreds & thousands of people are drawn into a pseudoscience situation & how they simply accept what they are told. This book teaches you to look at a situationin a different way so that you can not fall into the same trap as others.
I give this book 5/5 as it simply is an amazing read. I have currently just bought myself a copy to give to a friend & I would encourage others to read it.
A superb book for the questioning mind - By: Alex Ireland, 14 Feb 2008 Do you like to question things? Well you should like this book.
There are two keys aspects to this book:
1. A detailed analysis of unsubstantiated beliefs
2. An exploration of critical thinking
1.
Sagan describes all sorts of unusual beliefs such as demons & witches which were once held with absolute certitude by the masses. He details outrageous claims of alien abductions & all sorts of unusual apparitions. This is all sprinkled with all sorts of interesting facts & anecdotes. Whether it's the story of innocent people being found guilty for child abuse by using confession under hypnosis as evidence or the fact that there have been over a million UFO sightings since 1947, the reader is keptin engaged along the way.
Inevitably Religion gets a mention. Sagan points out how scripture was used to justify some inhuman activities such slavery & racism
However Sagan is fair here. He points out that mainstream Religions accepts mainstream Science, such as Darwinian evolution & it is really only the fundamentalists who cannot deal with Scientific findings.
He also describes the story of the Jesuit priest, Friedrich von Spee, who turned whistle blower, detailing the abject fallacy & idiocy of witchcraft trials.
2.
Of course no book on critical thinking would be complete without a discussion on what constitutes critical thinking. Sagan is is succinctin his explanations. He details scientific & evidence based methodologies. He explains various logical fallacies which consistently make humans think something is true when it is actually not.
Sagan is not also to afraid to point out the imperfections of Science. He discusses the tentative nature of Science & he questions of some of bad aspects that have manifested from a usage of it. Atomic & Hydrogen bombs, two obvious examples.
Sagan explores the inescapable reality that Science has failed to capture the masses. Why is it only 75% of American don't know antibiotics kill bacteria not viruses? He explores some of the reasons for this as well as different ways of teaching Science & critical thinking.
He is only too gracious & bashful to recommend everyone should read this book, but I would have no problem doing that!
Well worth reading... - By: J. Dicker, 14 Jan 2008 
As a widely acclaimed scientist, Carl Sagan has written an important book at the dawn of a new millennium, advocating science & debunking credulous claims of the supernatural & pseudoscientific.
Sagan begins with his childhood fascination with the nature of the universe & shows how an open-minded, scientific mind can see the obvious truthin a superstitious world. He goes on to illustrate the progression of human gullibility throughout the ages, from beliefin angles, demos, witches, fairies, to more contempory paradigms such as the visitation of extraterrestrials from other dimensions. Striking "coincidental" parallels are drawn between these superstitions, such the sexual undercurrents & paralyzing abilities of incubi, sucubi & aliens.
Using brute-force scientific reasoning, Sagan successfully disproves the existence of UFOs, the healing powers of faith-healers, crop circles designed by extraneous entities, the validity of astrology etc... & hence reading, many would find these claims impossible to believe.
The first half of the book is packed with entertaining information, which will delight skeptics & scientists. Unfortunately Sagan, as a renowned scientist, is not the greatest writer. The book could be better structured & more concise. He has a tendency to state his thesis, & then assiduously ramble on to the point of banality. The latter half of the book is a tiresome advocation of sciencein today's age supported by superfluous, irrelevant information; for example, the historical opponents of science, the beneficial practical applications of science, the deterioration of sciencein America's educational system, literacy as an emancipator of slavery, politics & science, to the lack of science on television etc.. As somebody not from America, I believe his supporting arguments could be more "scientific" & less localized.
Apart from its misgivings, this book is highly recommended as a conscious raiser to the fallaciousness of the supernatural haunting our world today.
