Varieties of Scientific Experience : A Personal View of the Search for God

by Sagan, Carl (Author); Druyan, Ann (Editor)

• ISBN13: 9780143112624
• ISBN10: 0143112627
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-06
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

Carl Sagan’s prophetic vision of the tragic resurgence of fundamentalism and the hope-filled potential of the next great development in human spirituality The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design, and a new concept of science as informed worship.” Originally presented at the centennial celebration of the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland in 1985 but never published, this book offers a unique encounter with one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Carl Sagan (1934-û1996) is the Pulitzer Prize-ûwinning author of Cosmos, the bestselling science book ever published in the English language, and Contact, which was the basis of a major motion picture.
Ann Druyan is Carl Sagan-'s widow and long time collaborator.

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction	p. ix
Author's Introduction	p. xvii
Carl Sagan's 1985 Gifford Lectures
Nature and Wonder: A Reconnaissance of Heaven	p. 1
The Retreat from Copernicus: A Modern Loss of Nerve	p. 33
The Organic Universe	p. 63
Extraterrestrial Intelligence	p. 105
Extraterrestrial Folklore: Implications for the Evolution of Religion	p. 125
The God Hypothesis	p. 147
The Religious Experience	p. 169
Crimes Against Creation	p. 191
The Search	p. 213
Selected Q & A	p. 223
Acknowledgments	p. 261
Figure Captions	p. 265
Index	p. 275
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