Cosmos by Carl Sagan Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cosmos
Book Review: How To Reach An Audience, Educate It, And Never Talk Down To Those Who Are Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
Sagan accomplished a lot in writing Cosmos. This book established him for the rest of his life as the most famous advocate of science in the English-speaking world, made him a household name and a huge figure in popular culture. He introduced if not "billions and billions" then certainly millions to some of science's heaviest concepts, and found a way to do it in terms that bored no one and set off imaginations in a positive way.
In Cosmos, the earth is established as but one speck in a vast ocean of galactic one-ness and the mind is invited to open wide and ponder just how enormous everything that's out there is. Sagan explains supernovas and black holes, tackles concepts like time and the environment of planet earth. He lauds the ancient Greeks and champions the greatest minds of science. Through his personality and charisma and his contagious love for his work, Sagan accomplished a near-miracle and brought an audience to what in other hands might have been the driest topics imaginable.
Cosmos is one of the best works of scientific non-fiction ever composed, and I hope it remains well-read into coming generations. I am old enough to remember when Sagan was a celebrated superstar in the late 1980's, parodied on comedy shows and a soft drink commercial, and it puzzles me how less than ten years after death robbed us of Carl Sagan, he is already slipping away from popular memory and how so few people under the age of about 20 even know who he is. I was having a conversation about this just last night with a high school senior I tutor. She is a bright girl, representative of her peers and social class, and yet when I mentioned this book and its author, she gave me a blank, "I've never heard of that."
I gave her my copy, but, boy, talk about feeling old...
Anyway, I love this book, whole-heartedly recommend it, and I hope this review in some tiny way encourages its reading.
Book Review: COSMIC
Summary: 5 Stars
An INcredible eye opener. I was worried about all the technical lingo, but it was easy to understand. I am a new person with a broader horizon after reading this book. You look at the earth and the sky in a whole different way. The world would be a much better place if EVERYONE would read this book. Book Review: Enter the Cosmos
Summary: 5 Stars
Cosmos changed my outlook on the world "out there". When it comes time to relax and read a really interesting book that is full of very intelligent data, pick this up. How about a great book to read the next time you take a transatlantic trip on the airplane or simply relaxing by the pool this Summer. What an enjoyment, I have probably read this over 100 times and each time I take something new from it. Cosmos is a genuine masterpiece BUY IT! Read it forever. I love Mr. Sagan. Plus it looks so impressive on your bookshelf.Book Review: This book made me a better person
Summary: 5 Stars
This humbling book was read by someone who needed humbling. When Sagan was alive doing his PBS shows this reviewer did not watch them. He had determined that Nova would be a dumbed down science program not unlike the contents of a Pschyology Today article. An apology is required but to who? Perhaps to the reviewer who had too much hubris to pay attention and short shifted himself. He is a wiser reviewer now.
Cosmos is a book written for the mass market and can be found in your local grocery store. The value here is that any one can pick it up very inexpensively and explore a plethora of scientific ideas in a deep yet readable way. Many of us do not have the training and skills that allow us to understand the details of a scientific study. Sagan provides us a history that is there for the everyman who yearns for information.
Sagan presents his case with some biography such as Kepler and Newton. Some evolution, autobiography and some cosmology. For us scientific little leaguers he presents all of his ideas from a scientific method. Nothing in science happens (or happened) without intelligent hypotheses, testing and review by people who understand the tests and can offer something to them.
The book is written in an engaging style that is florid enough to keep the reader interested even in the moments that may seem arcane. Should the reader stick with those moments they will be satisfied with a clear answer to their question.
A book like this has been in print since 1980. People must be reading it. Those that have are rewarded with ideas and reasons to pursue new adventures in science as a result.
Book Review: Highly recommended for anyone inclined to wonder...
Summary: 5 Stars
My education and upbringing have taken place within a society that respects science and the awesome reality it attempts to describe. I am sure this is due, in large part, to the bold and tireless work of scientists such as the late Carl Sagan in capturing the hearts and minds of so many with works like Cosmos.
In this book, Sagan gives us a tantalizing sample of the great knowledge we humans have amassed over the past two thousand years, interrupted by the ignorance of the Dark Ages and revived with the Renaissance. Incorporating history, biology, astronomy, physics, religion, and politics into the discussion, he discusses how exploration of the Cosmos can help answer the timeless question: Who are we?
Sagan shows in this book how, by reaching out to the stars, by continually questioning and expanding our visions of the universe, we humans can better understand our place in the Cosmos. Although we have found our home planet to be a "mote of dust circling a humdrum star in the remotest corner of an obscure galaxy," we are nonetheless extremely precious beings within the vast emptiness of the Cosmos. Our origins lie with the stars, and in the stars rests our destiny as a race, should we escape the petty quarrels that engulf our governments even today.
An inspiring work with valuable insight into the value of science and reason, as well as what it means to be human. In spite of its age (25 years!), I heartily recommend Cosmos to anyone that has ever been struck by the beauty and wonder of the universe we inhabit.