Cosmos by Carl Sagan
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Book Reviews of Cosmos
Book Review: Teaching the comparative idiots
Summary: 5 Stars
The late Carl Sagen had a wonderful way of relating his apparent knowledge of everything into a form that comparative idiots can understand. His genius appears to be, not just his ability to formulate the evalution of the cosmos into something understandable to himself, but into a book understandable to those of us with IQs less than was his 150-plus. I've read this book a couple of times, as well as "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking. Both books are wonderful in the authors' attempts to share their enthusiasm of science and physics, but the difference is Sagen's ability to simplify the topic for the common intellect. Hawking either seems unable to to so, or is tackling subject matter much too difficult for the general public. Not so for Sagen... AND Perhaps even now a life-form on another planet across a hundred billion stars from Earth is observing our planet as it appeared in the past, in a better time when the great Carl Sagen lived among us.Book Review: read what you can of it, but READ it!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an incredible book, even if it is dated. I am a words person, not numbers, so when Sagan got into a lot of equations and chemistry, I had to kind of skim over those parts. I never could have understood them, and if I'd tried to force myself to, I probably would have gotten frustrated and gave up on the book. So I stuck with the parts (happily, that was most of it) I could absorb and easily understand. There were so many fascinating aspects to it that I would have missed had I given up over the math. This book is capable of starting you on a journey. It has made me find a book on Alexandria, which I am just starting. There is a fascinating history there, and I will continue on with books on da Vinci and Einstein. They are men I've heard about, of course, but never has my curiosity about them been so piqued. Being a book lover, the Library of Alexandria is something I want to learn more about. This book will make you want to learn more about a lot of things.Book Review: a brief history of everything
Summary: 5 Stars
I am staggered that there are anything but 5 star ratings for this book, sadly in this dumbed down age, we may have lost some of our ability to wonder at the vastness of creation and contemplate our place in it. This book manages to be all things to all men, I have 3 degrees (not in astro-physics!) and in no way feel that this book condescends the reader, and feel that any one with any level of education would get so much from this wonderful book.
Carl Sagan must have been a wonderful man to have learned from, one of those rare creatures that takes his or her enthusiasm for their subject and infects others with it.
I find some of the concepts mind boggling and I think it's a good thing that we are all reminded about the size of the universe and what a rare and precious thing we are as a species.
Book Review: Give this book to your kids after you've read it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read a number of very, very good popularisations of science including some by Dawkins, Hawking, Gould, Diamond, Asimov etc. But none are as accessible as Sagan's works. Cosmos is the book that has most influenced my life as it gave me the "love of learning". This love is the most precious gift I have ever received and it inspires me to try to give it to others. I am amazed that I still own my original copy as I have given it away to so many people encouraging them to read. Cosmos should be compulsory reading for all 15 year olds. If it had been there would have been no need for Mr Sagan's last book about the shocking rise of ignorance and pseudoscience in our society. If you read only one book in your life, this is the one. If you read frequently, you have no excuse for missing this book.Book Review: This began my career in Science
Summary: 5 Stars
I am honored to say I began my career as a physicist when, as a young child, I watched with utter awe the television series "Cosmos". With that series Carl Sagan opened my mind to what can be knowable, given the right tools - and I have not looked back since. He has been called a great communicator and not a great scientist. This I question - because he was more popular than other scientists, that makes him inferior? Regardless of his credentials as a scientist, he undoubtedly began many other scientific careers in addition to my own. Certainly one of these "academic progeny" will change the world for the better, and for this we all must salute him. Cosmos the series, and Cosmos the book, are brilliant for expanding our minds to both what is knowable, and making the knowable knowledge.