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Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium |
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Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $10.85
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Author: Carl Sagan
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 1998-05-12
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Label: Ballantine Books
Number Of Pages: 320
Features:
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Editorial Review:
In the final book of his astonishing career, Carl Sagan brilliantly examines the burning questions of our lives, our world, and the universe around us. These luminous, entertaining essays travel both the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of the human mind, posing such fascinating questions as how did the universe originate and how will it end, and how can we meld science and compassion to meet the challenges of the coming century? Here, too, is a rare, private glimpse of Sagan's thoughts about love, death, and God as he struggled with fatal disease. Ever forward-looking and vibrant with the sparkle of his unquenchable curiosity, Billions & Billions is a testament to one of the great scientific minds of our day.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
Not what I expected at all  2008-10-04
I only gave my review two stars because the beginning of the book was thought provoking and interesting. I now understand exponentials more than ever before! But this is where it ends for me. I am 3/4's of the way through and don't think I can stomach the rest. I am a HUGE Sagan fan. I have watched Cosmos since I was a child and have enjoyed his other books. But if I had to sum this one up in two words it would be: political indoctrination. He blames conservatives for everything. His apparent disdain for conservatives and Reagan are glaring and at times offensive. His political bias screams at you. In this one book, in my mind, he has gone from a thoughtful, brilliant scientist to an unabashed political partisan. Yes, he tries to mitigate his bias by seemingly proposing middle ground but in the end his "final solutions" are blatantly liberal and at times even illogical and a bit silly, by proposing the United States take over responsibility for the rest of the "underdeveloped world" in becoming energy efficient! Ridiculous. I file that suggestion right under Obama's Global Poverty Act. Why/how do we have to fix the world? He just says over and over, "we need to do something" but the only ingenuity he can provide is solar energy and in doing so doesn't miss an opportunity to slam President Reagan and coddle President Carter.
I hope to forget ever reading this book. I may, as some have suggested on this page, chalk it up to his brain being affected by his illness. I am giong to do my best to not let it shadow my original respect for him as a scientist and cosmologist.
Last articles by a "generalist"  2008-06-21
The articles that impressed me where the ones on global warming, the
ozone hole and "The Rules of the Game". This last article could have been transformed into something important if it had been put into a set of game matrices: his five rules defines alternative strategy games.
In " The Common Enemy" the editorial censorship of even a well known
and well received scientist is plain. It seems strange that people who have only limited background in science, but are literature trained both choose and edit documents by technologically trained "great" scientists'?
I think that the graph on page 110 of long term historical global temperature that shows our current temperature is on the 'geological" scale as a maximum may be the most telling page in the book.
Carl Sagan to the last was true to his science.
forceful and persuasive  2007-09-11
Sagan covers much more than environmental issues in this book. However, his writing is so forceful and persuasive on environmental issues that this theme overshadows all others in my mind. Before reading this work, I was under the impression that global warming was still a theory and that things were happening so slowly that there was little need for action. Now I'm convinced that we are in the midst of a global crisis, a crisis with the potential for the most catastrophic and irreparable of consequences. The issues covered here are of extreme importance. We all have a responsibility to be informed. Please read at least part 2 of this book, which runs from pages 75 to 178.
At the end of a remarkable life 2007-05-16
As he knowingly faced the end, Sagan bravely shared his views on a number of subjects: science, politics, philosophy, and the environment. Here are the departing words from a man who spent his life in search of knowledge about nature, not in pursuit of wealth. His admonitions come across as genuine, and his motivations are altruistic. He suggests that some of mankind's present course is noble, while some of it may be terminally perilous. He wisely advises us to choose the path of progress, not the path of confrontation and destruction.
This is an atypical Sagan work. Those wanting him to stick strictly to science will have to modify their expectations somewhat. There's a good amount of science here, but this is his final public farewell to everyone he loved, knew, or influenced. To me, it's a profoundly moving work.
A brilliant mind but dangerous 2006-12-05
I remember watching Cosmos on television when I was a kid. I didn't question him then or for some time after. The book is entertaining, with good story telling. Sagan makes many excellent points and he is easily understood. These are his final words before his death. If you are looking for hard science, this isn't the book. Politics and propaganda enter a few chapters. Carl was a brilliant mind but dangerous.
Carl discusses society, ethics, morality, rules to live by, and gives us a feel for large numbers. Life maybe not that scarce? His philosophy on a better world is all well and good, but he forgets or ignores there is true evil in the world. He concludes that God and the supernatural as myth, but falls in the same trap by treating theory as fact. What is the amazing brain of evolution, where does it come from? He gives us no real answers. He does not realize or purposely ignores problems with his theories. The new fear is the environmental and climatic warnings. According to Sagan, at the time this book was written, we should be in dire straights in the near future--are we? Is life as fragile as he says? His thoughts come from a secular humanist mind. I still recommend the book.
How does he propose such world wide changes, except by government intervention?
"Our ancestors came from the trees"------------what???????
Wish you well
Scott
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