Carl Sagan

By hrynyshyn on December 20, 2006.

Carl Sagan died 10 years ago today, I''d rather celebrate his birth, but there's this Carl Sagan Memorial Blogathon going on and I can hardly resist making a mention.

With Sagan's passing, the world lost one of its leading champions of reason, but also one of its most eloquent describers of the wonders of the universe. Anyone who hasn't had a chance to read his Demon-Haunted World - Science as a Candle in the Dark, should get a copy now.

Here's a favorite quote from same:

"Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time ... when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstitions and darkness."

It's enough to send shivers down your spine.

Tags
Science Culture

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