UNITED STATES AUTHOR · LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS · ASTRONOMY
Carl Sagan
Also known as: Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, carl sagan and jonathan norton leonard
Carl Sagan was an American Pulitzer-prize winning author and astrophysicist. Sagan is the author of more than 600 publications. “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
A WELL-KNOWN SCIENTIST (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy.
— from A Brief History of Time, 1989
Most acclaimed
Cosmos
"Cosmos est le premier volume d'une trilogie intitulée "Brève encyclopédie du monde". Il présente une philosophie de la nature. Il sera suivi de "Décadence", qui traitera de l'histoire, puis de "Sagesse", consacré à la question de l'éthique et du bonheur. "Trop de livres se proposent de faire l'économie du monde tout en prétendant nous le décrire. Cet oubli nihiliste du cosmos me semble plus peser que l'oubli de l'être. Les monothéismes ont voulu célébrer un livre qui prétendait dire la totalité du monde. Pour ce faire ils ont écarté des livres qui disaient le monde autrement qu'eux. Une immense bibliothèque s'est installée entre les hommes et le cosmos, et la nature, et le réel". Tel est le point de départ de ce livre, dans lequel Michel Onfray nous propose de renouer avec une méditation philosophique en prise directe avec le cosmos. Contempler le monde, ressaisir les intuitions fondatrices du temps, de la vie, de la nature, comprendre ses mystères et les leçons qu'elle nous livre. Tel est l'ambition de ce livre très personnel, qui renoue avec l'idéal grec et païen d'une sagesse humaine en harmonie avec le monde."--Amazon.com. Cosmos is the first volume of a trilogy entitled "Brief encyclopedia of the world." This contains a philosophy of nature. It will be followed by "Decadence", which will deal with its history, then "Wisdom", dedicated to the issue of ethics and happiness. In this first book Michel Onfray proposes that we return to a philosophical meditation in tune with the cosmos. Contemplating the world, recovering the founding intuitions of time, of life, of nature, understanding its mysteries and the lessons it gives us. Such is the ambition of this very personal book, which revives the Greek and pagan ideal of human wisdom in harmony with the world.
A Brief History of Time
1989
Stephen Hawking's ‘A Brief History of Time* has become an international publishing phenomenon. Translated into thirty languages, it has sold over ten million copies worldwide and lives on as a science book that continues to captivate and inspire new readers each year. When it was first published in 1988 the ideas discussed in it were at the cutting edge of what was then known about the universe. In the intervening twenty years there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and macro-cosmic world. Indeed, during that time cosmology and the theoretical sciences have entered a new golden age . Professor Hawking is one of the major scientists and thinkers to have contributed to this renaissance.
The Demon-Haunted World
1996
A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace “A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions. Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms.