Cosmos

Carl Sagan is regarded as the greatest popularizer of science. The TV series and book Cosmos were a big part of that. While reading Cosmos is like stepping into the past in a way, it still maintains a timeless quality. It's an interesting and fun book to read. Even though some of the information in the book is dated, I still consider the book worth reading. Sagan does a great job of showing the progression of science and how far back its roots go.

The biggest take away for me really is how far back science discovery goes. There's the persitent myth that I was taught in elementary school that everybody thought the world was flat until Christopher Columbus came along. While I eventually learned that it was a pretty accepted fact in Columbus' day that the world was round. I was still left with the impression that the discovery was still relatively new. Au Contraire, as I found in Cosmos. Erastothenes who lived in the 3rd century BC was aware of the sphrerical nature of the planet Earth. In fact he was able to predict, relatively accurately the circumfrence of the Earth using sticks and shadows. The angle of the shadow at high noon during the summer solstice provided the numbers he needed.

Cosmos is full of other interesting stories. I think it's the kind of book that should be required reading in school. While I'm sure there are plenty of people who wouldn't like it, I think it's a good place to start for getting people to appreciate science. I think this is especially important when we live in a society that endorses things like Homeopathy and Chiropractic like they're actual medically plausible. That's a subject for my next book review.