Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Book report: The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, by Carl Sagan In The Republic, Plato proposes government by philosopher-kings, benevolent and wise dictators who would rule justly and fairly. I would have nominated Carl Sagan to be a philosopher-king. He wasn't just a smart guy in his own field (planetary astronomy and exobiology). He was erudite in a number of fields, an expert teacher and popularizer of science, and had what I consider wisdom. He also seemed to appreciate people and the human condition. In my experience, this is unusual in scientists. Sagan also had a characteristic and vivid style both in speech and in writing that makes all his books entertaining and illuminating to read. This particular book is the edited transcript of the Gifford Lectures in Natural Theology ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifford_Lectures ) that Sagan delivered in 1985 (the same year he wrote Contact, one of my favorite books and movies). The Gifford