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Unfolding Nature Shop: Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

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carl sagan?
    #4853731 -

just saw a long lecture (VHS) from Carl Sagan, and I just come to learn it was from a TV series called "Cosmos."

I really liked the down to earth concept of many things, and just ordered one of his books. anyone have recommendations?

or does anyone thinks hes a nutcase? id like to hear from you too...


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No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, or federal laws. All posts are works of fiction.

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: kotik]
    #4853774 -

Check out either "The Dragons of Eden" or "A Demon-Haunted World". They're both great books.


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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.
But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: trendal]
    #4853775 -

And no, I certainly don't think he was a nutcase.

He was a brilliant scientists who had that (rare?) gift of being able to actually explain scientific concepts in a way that anyone who hasn't spent 10 years studying physics can still understand.


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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.
But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: trendal]
    #4854301 -

trendal said:
He was a brilliant scientists who had that (rare?) gift of being able to actually explain scientific concepts in a way that anyone who hasn't spent 10 years studying physics can still understand.


Yeah, most brilliant physicist lack the ability to switch back to a 'normal' level of thinking. They don't know what is logic and what isn't for 'normal' people. Carl Sagan was a great one. Richard Feynman and Albert Einstein were also great at explaining theories to a more general public.

I'm following an (applied) Aerodynamics class at the moment. There is no way to visualize the mathematical tools and application of these tools anymore; it is very abstract. Sometimes I feel like I actually understand something and a moment later I only know my mathematical tools and know how to apply them, is this understanding? I have no idea if it is possible to understand why these models work so beautiful. I sometimes fall out of my chair if I see how beautiful we can model nature, but I have no clue why. I can read and understand the derivations, but that doesn't make me understand why it fits with reality.

I have no idea how one could ever write a book about those theories without the use of math. The mathematics is almost all there is. This is even more true for more difficult math/physics.

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: trendal]
    #4854308 -

trendal said:
Check out either "The Dragons of Eden" or "A Demon-Haunted World". They're both great books.


Thanks for the tips. I just ordered A Demon-Haunted World from amazon.

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: Annom]
    #4855370 -

i haven't read any his books except one a long time ago and i dont remember anything about it but i thinkk you may find this essay of his to be of interest: http://www.marijuana-uses.com/essays/002.html

Edited by Deviate (10/26/05 04:20 PM)

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: Deviate]
    #4855708 -

Sagan is one of my few idols. Reading Cosmos back in 8th grade is what got me going in science.

And his book "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" got me going on what's now my favorite area of learning; evolutionary psychology. I definitely reccomend it.

I doubt there's ever been a person with a better skill for explaining and relating the many areas of science.


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what's with neocons and the word 'ilk'?

Edited by Gijith (10/26/05 06:25 PM)

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: Gijith]
    #4855852 -

and they say potheads don't have anything to contribute...

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: nonick]
    #4855881 -

OH GOD CARL SAGAN
fuck yeah the guy was excellent

Reading Cosmos in 8th grade..shit man i wish you went to my school, I read it the same year..seriously one of the best things i've ever done in my life

i've tried to reread it, but its definatly 8th grade material
right before bed..most beautiful period of my life


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Dimensions

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: Deviate]
    #4856117 -

Deviate said:
i haven't read any his books except one a long time ago and i dont remember anything about it but i thinkk you may find this essay of his to be of interest: http://www.marijuana-uses.com/essays/002.html


Thank you!!!

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Re: carl sagan? [Re: kotik]
    #4859163 -

um, I think Carl Sagan is kind of annoying. Wait, wait.

I grant that he's good at talking to the layperson. He's writen some cool books, some of which I've even read. BUT he lacks a sense of irony and cliche. What I mean is, he's pretty cheesy. I watched some of the Cosmos videos a while ago and I remember lots of scenes where he's slowly strolling through some amazing vista, and saying shit like "For millennia Man has turned his gaze upwards..." blah blah. I get pretty annoyed with crap like that, it's not instructive at all.

Issac Azimov comes to mind as a scientist who can deliver information to the layperson without descending into a quagmire of cliche. That is all.

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Unfolding Nature Shop: Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

General Interest > Philosophy, Sociology & Psychology
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