The Demon-Haunted World

{{title-italics}}{{books}}
{{cquote|I wish I had written The Demon-Haunted World. Having failed to do so, the least I can do is press it upon my friends. Please read this book.|||[[Richard Dawkins]]' review of the book<ref>http://www.godslasteraar.org/html/review_of_the_demon-haunted_wo.html</ref>}}

'''''The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark''''' ({{Isbn|0345409469}}) is a book centered around [[scientific skepticism]] written by [[Carl Sagan]].<ref>''The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark'' by Carl Sagan (1995) Random House. ISBN 0345409469.</ref> It was the second to last book he wrote before his death. Though it is less famous than ''Cosmos'', many prominent [[skepticism|skeptics]] have praised the book for its clarity and is touted as a common introduction to scientific skepticism.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvQbKkGtjA Michael Shermer has a YouTube video explaining the Baloney Detection Kit chapter]</ref> The last two chapters, "Science and Witchcraft" and "Real Patriots Ask Questions" are co-written with Sagan's wife Ann Druyan and contains a notice that these chapters are the most "political" of the book. At the beginning of each chapter, Sagan furnishes a quote or two relevant to the subject being discussed, a common trait of nearly all of his popular science non-fiction work.
==Synopsis==
An overall intent of the book is to introduce laypeople to the [[scientific method]] and to thinking skeptically. Throughout, Sagan explains what the scientific method is, how it operates, and how to apply [[critical thinking]] to claims. The book is organized in essays that expound a particular subject, though each of the essays can also be read independently. Subjects explored in the book include [[pseudoscience]], [[obscurantism]], [[UFOs]], [[religion]], [[satanic ritual abuse]], [[skepticism]], [[anti-science]], [[New Age]] belief, [[Social Darwinism]], [[ESP]], [[flat Earth]], [[ghosts]], [[demons]], [[astrology]], [[false memory syndrome]], [[psychics]], and [[witchcraft]].

==Notable chapters==
===The Most Precious Thing & Science and Hope===
{{cquote|All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike—and yet it is the most precious thing we have.|||[[Albert Einstein]],<ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein Albert Einstein], Wikiquote.</ref> the first quote used in the book}}
Here Sagan elaborates on why [[science]] might well be the most precious invention of the human civilization and expands upon its modern modes of functioning. The "Science and Hope" chapter continues in the spirit of the previous chapter. Sagan explains that more than a body of knowledge, science is a way of thinking.

Sagan was particularly concerned about the dovetailing of scientific illiteracy with [[superstition]] and [[anti-intellectualism]]. Decades later, a quote from this chapter was frequently shared on social media by those concerned about the same, who often also saw Sagan's words as rather prescient.<ref>[https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/24/14368306/carl-sagan-science-prediction-trump-2017 "The world needs Carl Sagan now more than ever"] by Vlad Savov, Verge, 2017 January 24th</ref>

{{QuoteBox|1 have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; 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 superstition and darkness... We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements - transportation, communications, and all other industries; agriculture, medicine, education, entertainment, protecting the environment; and even the key democratic institution of voting - profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sagan |first=Carl |date=1997 |title=The Demon-Haunted World |url=https://archive.org/details/B-001-001-709/mode/2up |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |page=28 |isbn=0747251568 |access-date=2025-01-07}}</ref>}}

===The Dragon in My Garage===
{{main|The Dragon in My Garage}}
===The Fine Art of Baloney Detection===
{{main|The Fine Art of Baloney Detection}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demon Haunted World, The}}