---
product_id: 235246
title: "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark"
price: "R405"
currency: ZAR
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reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/235246-the-demon-haunted-world-science-as-a-candle-in-dark
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---

# The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

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## Description

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark [Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Review: a buoyant book brimming with the sagacity and soundness of judgment of the late, great Carl Sagan - In a world of ungrounded thought, I feel comforted by Sagan's sagely, skeptical words. "Skepticism doesn't sell newspapers," he explains. He was heavily pro-science and upset about America's scientific illiteracy which fawns over fables and eschews facts. In this book, he takes no prisions from Atlantis and Lemuria, New Age pseudoscience, religious doctrinaire that attempts to validate themselves through prophecy, weeping paintings of the Madonna, Jesus' face on tortillas, fortune tellers (that btw target young women), psychics and channels including Ramtha, amulets, exorcisms, psychic surgery, witches, ghosts, flying saucers, astrology, reliance on prayer and miraculous healing, contradictory platitudes, and spiritual justifications for nearly any action. "Some portion of the decision-making that influences the future of our civilization is plainly in the hands of charlantans," Sagan writes. "When we are self indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition." Carl Sagan's question for a possible extraterrestrial was, "Please provide a short proof of Fermat's Last Theorem." "How is it, I ask myself, that UFO occupants are so bound to fashionable or urgent concerns on this planet? Why not even an incidental warning about CFCs and oxone depletion in the 1950s, or about the AHIV virus in the 1979s, when it might have really done some good?" Sagan thoroughly elucidates the most common strategies used to defend perilous fallacies of logic and rhetoric. In this book, he includes some history of the founding father's of the U.S. who were "realistic and practical, wrote their own speeches, and were motivated by high principles." He also uses examples of leaders and events in Europe, Russia, and China, and how they thought in ways that were superior to the dreck we have spiraled down to. He admires Jefferson's response to the Sedition Act and Linus Pauling's stance against nuclear weapons and involvement in the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Sagan himself took an anti-nuclear stance. Carl Sagan wisely implores us to question everything our leaders tell us. "One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." As far as Sagan's brief mention of drugs used for certain DSM diagnosis, the expert I defer to in that realm is Robert Whitaker and his book "Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill." I read portions of Sagan's book over again, and skimmed a few parts that seemed a bit repetitive. Overall, a very worthy read that I give a strong five stars.
Review: Amazing, inspiring wonder, and dread - I can not praise this book enough, nor can I recommend it more highly. Dr. Sagan, through Cosmos, was a childhood hero, effortlessly explaining the infinite complexity out the Universe, in simple terms. He writes in the same manner, using language that is simple, effective and beautiful. The chapter on Baloney detection should be an educational course, taught at every level so students re learn it multiple things during school years. Despite it's readability and the amount of knowledge the book imparts, what I enjoyed most is that the book equips me. It provides tools and techniques to be more aware of myself, my fellow humans, and the world we exist in. It defines a responsibility reach and everyone of us should take; to process information better. That also scares me. For one, it lays out, in grim detail, where the human race has failed to do so, and subsequently, failed itself. Secondly, the human condition dictates that, at some point, each and everyone of us will fail to process information correctly. Thinking well is a life long struggle, and an individually responsibility. I hope we are up for it. Highly recommended. I wish Dr. Sagan were still alive; to hear him speak world be incredible.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #3,379 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Scientific Research #7 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books) #39 in Philosophy (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (7,504) |
| Dimensions  | 5.48 x 0.87 x 8.24 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 0345409469 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0345409461 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 457 pages |
| Publication date  | February 25, 1997 |
| Publisher  | Ballantine Books |

## Images

![The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Eck-ud8AL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ a buoyant book brimming with the sagacity and soundness of judgment of the late, great Carl Sagan
*by S***R on August 8, 2023*

In a world of ungrounded thought, I feel comforted by Sagan's sagely, skeptical words. "Skepticism doesn't sell newspapers," he explains. He was heavily pro-science and upset about America's scientific illiteracy which fawns over fables and eschews facts. In this book, he takes no prisions from Atlantis and Lemuria, New Age pseudoscience, religious doctrinaire that attempts to validate themselves through prophecy, weeping paintings of the Madonna, Jesus' face on tortillas, fortune tellers (that btw target young women), psychics and channels including Ramtha, amulets, exorcisms, psychic surgery, witches, ghosts, flying saucers, astrology, reliance on prayer and miraculous healing, contradictory platitudes, and spiritual justifications for nearly any action. "Some portion of the decision-making that influences the future of our civilization is plainly in the hands of charlantans," Sagan writes. "When we are self indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition." Carl Sagan's question for a possible extraterrestrial was, "Please provide a short proof of Fermat's Last Theorem." "How is it, I ask myself, that UFO occupants are so bound to fashionable or urgent concerns on this planet? Why not even an incidental warning about CFCs and oxone depletion in the 1950s, or about the AHIV virus in the 1979s, when it might have really done some good?" Sagan thoroughly elucidates the most common strategies used to defend perilous fallacies of logic and rhetoric. In this book, he includes some history of the founding father's of the U.S. who were "realistic and practical, wrote their own speeches, and were motivated by high principles." He also uses examples of leaders and events in Europe, Russia, and China, and how they thought in ways that were superior to the dreck we have spiraled down to. He admires Jefferson's response to the Sedition Act and Linus Pauling's stance against nuclear weapons and involvement in the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Sagan himself took an anti-nuclear stance. Carl Sagan wisely implores us to question everything our leaders tell us. "One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back." As far as Sagan's brief mention of drugs used for certain DSM diagnosis, the expert I defer to in that realm is Robert Whitaker and his book "Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill." I read portions of Sagan's book over again, and skimmed a few parts that seemed a bit repetitive. Overall, a very worthy read that I give a strong five stars.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazing, inspiring wonder, and dread
*by S***D on May 11, 2025*

I can not praise this book enough, nor can I recommend it more highly. Dr. Sagan, through Cosmos, was a childhood hero, effortlessly explaining the infinite complexity out the Universe, in simple terms. He writes in the same manner, using language that is simple, effective and beautiful. The chapter on Baloney detection should be an educational course, taught at every level so students re learn it multiple things during school years. Despite it's readability and the amount of knowledge the book imparts, what I enjoyed most is that the book equips me. It provides tools and techniques to be more aware of myself, my fellow humans, and the world we exist in. It defines a responsibility reach and everyone of us should take; to process information better. That also scares me. For one, it lays out, in grim detail, where the human race has failed to do so, and subsequently, failed itself. Secondly, the human condition dictates that, at some point, each and everyone of us will fail to process information correctly. Thinking well is a life long struggle, and an individually responsibility. I hope we are up for it. Highly recommended. I wish Dr. Sagan were still alive; to hear him speak world be incredible.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The should be mandatory reading for every human being.
*by T***E on May 17, 2011*

"The Demon Haunted World" is a seminal work of science, rationality, and skepticism. In it Carl Sagan wrote a clarion call to thought, deliberation, scrutiny, and criticism. It is, essentially, a gospel of rationality. Sagan's style is easily accessible without dumbing down anything. He elegantly communicates to the reader why reason and skepticism are critical to quality of life and to the operation of a free and technological society. Many of the absurdities we deal with these days are dealt with: conspiracy theories, alien abduction, belief in magic, faith healing, and more. None are spared from the criticism they deserve. Sagan marshals explanations of how the human brain can deceive itself to expose these phenomena for what they are. "The Dragon in My Garage" is a standout chapter, in which Sagan proposes he's got one, and in a hypothetical argument, lays out (and smacks down) the all-too-common tactic of believers in nonsense to progressively move their cherished superstitions out of the realm of testable reality. "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" is, in my opinion, the best chapter of the book. In it, Sagan enumerates 28 logical fallacies, errors in thought, or positive actions to take in order to sift out bad claims from good. Sagan also emphasizes that they are tools, not an automated process. If I could only make one chapter of this book mandatory reading for people, it would be this one, hands down. Sagan was a productive writer and a talented science educator and promoter, and this book fully captures his zeal for science and his tried-and-true respect for scientific, deliberate thought. Anyone looking to read Sagan, to understand the man and what he was about, should read "The Demon Haunted World."

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
- Cosmos
- Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

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*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-01-31*