Carl Sagan (1934–1996) is one of my intellectual heroes. I first encountered his work in 1980 watching the 13-part PBS mini-series “Cosmos.” While I had taken many college science courses before that, there was something special about his presentation that excited me, especially his poetic, philosophical monologues. Continue reading Sagan: The Universe Isn’t Made For Us →

I wanted to call attention to Carl Sagan’s wonderful but often overlooked book: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. It was an excellent text for my college courses in critical thinking, deftly distinguishing science from pseudo-science and the reasonable from the unreasonable. Continue reading Sagan: Science as a Candle in the Dark →

Books of My Youth

The first books I remember reading as a child were baseball biographies. Stories of baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial. I also have a fond memory of reading a book about the favorite baseball player of my youth titled: Continue reading Orwell’s 1984 →

(It is unusual for me to read a book like this, but I wanted to understand the origins of Kazantzakis’ rejection of hope. What I found therein was some of the most poetic imagery I have ever encountered. I discovered a heart longing for truth and meaning and a voice that spoke to me from beyond the grave.) Continue reading Kazantzakis: “The Saviors of God” →