{"id":155,"date":"2008-08-03T20:51:21","date_gmt":"2008-08-03T08:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.waikato.ac.nz\/bioblog\/2008\/08\/the_demonhaunted_world\/"},"modified":"2008-08-03T20:51:21","modified_gmt":"2008-08-03T08:51:21","slug":"the-demonhaunted-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.waikato.ac.nz\/bioblog\/2008\/08\/the-demonhaunted-world\/","title":{"rendered":"‘the demon-haunted world’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another in the occasional series of ‘what I’m reading’ (actually, there are 3 books on the go at the moment but I’ve only just started the second & I’m still trying to decide whether or not I like the third).  This one is The demon-haunted world<\/i> by the late, great Carl Sagan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sagan was a physicist, astronomer, & a superb science communicator. (There are some great videos from his lectures & TV performances, available on YouTube.) I’m re-reading this particular book partly because I’m starting to give some thought to this year’s Schol Bio preparation day. I’m always on the lookout for ways of teaching critical thinking & showing why it’s so important (for more than just passing the exam!), & this whole book is an impassioned argument for the power of science as a way of critically assessing the information that comes at us every day.<\/p>\n

The sub-title, science as a candle in the dark<\/i>, is a metaphor for what Sagan saw as the role of science in throwing light on pseudoscience, and woolly, mystical, & uncritical thinking, & the like. More than that, in fact: he saw the rise of non-scientific ways of understanding & explaining natural phenomena as a rising, threatening tide, and scientific literacy as all that stood in its way.<\/p>\n

Read the book. Whether you agree with Sagan’s viewpoint or not, you’ll still find a lot of excellent advice & commentary on the value of science & of critical thinking in today’s world. (And it might just de-bunk a few myths for you, as well!)<\/p>\n

Carl Sagan (1997) The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark.<\/u> Headline Book Publishing.<\/cite><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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