This is reflected not only in popular anti-intellectual television fare but also in a steady decline in competitive/comparative test scores that now place American school children well behind most students of other industrialized nations on basic science and math skills. Sagan exults over his love of science as he warns about the 'dumbing down' of America. Sagan draws parallels between independent thinkers in science who explored unknown territories that have enriched everyone's lives and independent political thinkers such as Jefferson (who also was a scientist) who gave legal form to basic freedoms. This was manifested in such uniquely American treasures as the Declaration of Independence through thought leaders like Thomas Jefferson. It evolves into an impassioned statement for personal and intellectual freedom as understood during and after the Enlightenment. The text begins as a scholarly and deliberate attempt to explain how important intellectual curiosity is to science. They may be startled at the ferocity and elegance with which Sagan attacks what could be called the approach of the second Dark Ages.

Many may know the astronomer primarily from his television appearances as popular conduit to understanding the rarefied atmosphere of pure science. Popular science proselytizer Carl Sagan makes an impassioned plea for society to understand, accept and encourage science that goes far beyond the movement of planets or subatomic particles and extends to the heart of intellectual freedom and the meaning of democracy.

The demon haunted world sparknotes