"Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

Publisher:New York : Ballantine Books, 1997.
Edition:First Ballantine Books edition.
Copyright Date:©1996
ISBN: 9780345409461
Characteristics: xviii, 457 pages ;,21 cm

This book takes an in-depth look at what humans believe, why we believe it, how we are led to believe certain things, the consequences of us believing them both good and bad.

Dr. Sagan was a very famous popularizer of science, one a few in the field. His explanations are very clear, but his amazement at how people can be bamboozled, and led astray definitely comes through in his writing. But then again this was his goal in writing this book.

He goes into a great deal of detail with regard to the history of skepticism, and gives the reader very good examples with regard to ways in which people nowadays can easily detect when they are being taken advantage of.

I found this book to be a fascinating read, with literally tons of valuable information regarding history, current scientific methodology, the way unscrupulous practitioners deal in their trade, etc. It is a no holds barred look at what people in the past and present believe, why they believe it, how they were led to believe it, and unfortunately in many circumstances why they refuse to believe the truth when it is revealed to them.

Highly recommended.