While not finished the book, I have reached some overall impressions.

The beginning chapters of the book were very compelling. I agree that it seems rediculous that we are the only intelligent life in the cosmos, but, as of yet, we have no proof. The idea that 'our' gods would be the same or even recognizable to other beings is also very concited. It is possible, but very, very unlikely. Sagan articulates these ideas very well.

However (i'm currently up to chapter 15), Sagan seems to have lost his way. There are several chapters describing the history of space travel. While there are some jewels of discovery in these chapters, they seem very long compared to the value they provide to me. Sagan has now moved on to justifying space travel given the limited resources available (a problem that has only gotten worse since the writing of the book). After giving us lots of good reasons to spend the money elsewhere, he seems to say, well, lets do it anyway. The only reason that he gives that is even remotely logical is that we spend a small amount compared to defense and wishing that we could spend less on 'defense' (another problem that has gotten far worse since the writing). At this point of the book, he seems completely lost. I hope that he decides that he wants to say more by the end of the book. At the very least, I'll enjoy looking at the photo's!

Sagan ends with three compelling reasons why space travel is the most important thing human beings can do.

Maybe getting the abridged version by mistake wasn't so bad after all....

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Miller's Law of Strange Behavior- To understand any apparently baffling behavior by another human, ask: what status game is this individual playing, to show off which heritable traits, in which mating market?

I think the most compelling reason for space exploration is that we're all going to die without it.

Chris

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them"

Pessimist! Or do you mean in 4.5 billion years when the Sun finally engulfs us?

So far my overall impressions are (as mentioned in another string) Booorrrrriiiinngggg! and very old. I think this is primarily occupational hazard though, seeing as he's writing about things that happened in my field 20 to 40 years ago.

Edited by: wrkelly at: 6/10/04 9:12 pm

Be that as it may, it's still largely material that I don't believe most people really grasp. How many people really understand genetics or evolution, and yet that's material that's been going on in my field for a few decades as well--just because you, a specialist in your field, know something does not mean that it's common knowledge.

Secondly, you don't think we might die off sooner through overutilization of our natural resources first?

yeah, that's what I meant. I meant my finding it boring may be entirely due to being so familiar with the topics. I never said anything about anyone else finding it boring nor that it's common knowledge. Pls reread.

Yes again. I assume Chris was refering to our own too imminent self-inflicted demise. That was sarcasm (or facetiousness, more correctly).