Carl Sagan's Gifford lectures

Recently I finished reading Varieties of scientific experience by Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan, SETI pioneer, Pulitzer prize winning science communicator and a world class scientist, of course needs no introduction. The book introduced a new face of the dynamic man; his deep, rational interest in religion and how it fits in with the new world science has revealed. The book is actually the transcript of the Gifford lectures he gave in 1985 on the topic of natural theology (the theological knowledge achieved through reason alone). He talks about how our understanding of our place in the universe has broadened over time (Aristotle through Copernicus through Hubble and so on, to which probably we should now add the many worlds of quantum mechanics), possibilities of extraterrestrial life, the importance of search for it and its implications. He argues that the fruit of this search would not only be new knowledge, but would also help us see all our fellow humans as one. He discusses the traditional arguments proposed to 'prove' the existence of god and how they fare with our current knowledge (for example, the argument from design (as it is called) says a watch implies a watchmaker and the existence of the superbly well crafted organs (like our eye) implies an intelligent designer. But Darwin taught us that unintelligent natural selection is enough). And he stresses the need to be tolerant (cold war was a big issue at the time) to make progress, or just to ensure survival of the human species. A wonderful read, filled with interesting nuggets, and more importantly, a lot of wisdom.

Enjoy!