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Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science [Mass Market Paperback]

Carl Sagan
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

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Book Description

February 12, 1986
Carl Sagan, writer and scientist, returns from the frontier to tell us about how the world works. In his delightfully down-to-earth style, he explores and explains a mind-boggling future of intelligent robots, extraterrestrial life and its consquences, and other provocative, fascinating quandries of the future that we want to see today.

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Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science + The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence + The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Carl Sagan, writer and scientist, returns from the frontier to tell us about how the world works. In his delightfully down-to-earth style, he explores and explains a mind-boggling future of intelligent robots, extraterrestrial life and its consquences, and other provocative, fascinating quandries of the future that we want to see today.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (February 12, 1986)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345336895
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345336897
  • Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 1.2 x 7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carl Sagan was Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft expeditions to the planets, for which he received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement. Dr. Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize and the highest awards of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, and many other awards, for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment. His book Cosmos (accompanying his Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning television series of the same name) was the bestselling science book ever published in the English language, and his bestselling novel, Contact, was turned into a major motion picture.

Customer Reviews

His writing style is engaging, non-intimidating and fun. C. Clayton  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
What makes this book the best science book that I've ever read, is its simplisity. Nimrod  |  9 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 74 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Writing that is almost religious in power June 12, 2001
Format:Hardcover
Carl Sagan is so widely known for his popularization of science that his thoughts on the philosophy of science are easily forgotten. Which is unfortunate, because he also shines in this area. This is never more aptly demonstrated than when he discusses the ideas of Immanuel Velikovsky. The ideas themselves are “explanations” of many of the ancient myths created by invoking rather extreme and unusual astronomic phenomena. While the explanations are clearly preposterous, Sagan does not simply dismiss them, but subjects them to a thorough critical examination. Along the way he also criticizes some of his scientist colleagues, pointing out that the role of science is not to make preconceived value judgements, but to subject all ideas to the ruthless meritocratic critical analysis that makes science work. His reasoned arguments against Velikovsky’s ideas and against some who rejected them using attacks beyond the normal bounds of legitimate criticism, is the best explanation of how science should work that you will ever find.
The title of the book is derived from his finding the preserved brain of Paul Broca in a French museum. Broca is best known for discovering the previously unsuspected fact that the brain is compartmentalized into functional regions. Broca’s brain is preserved in a jar of formalin and when he finds it, Sagan asks some questions that go to the heart of what makes humans what they are and what we become after death. His simple question, “How much of that man known as Paul Broca can still be found in this jar?” is a very profound one. If you possess a religious nature, the answer is probably “nothing.
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48 of 52 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars It's Sagan, for heaven's sake! November 5, 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
At some point in my life, much of what Sagan wrote became "common knowledge" and much less interesting to read, because I stopped learning from him.

Then I realized: he had done his job. Sagan excited me, thrilled me, MADE me go out and learn more because I couldn't stand not knowing.

Carl Sagan was a master at distilling science to the masses; he made physics, biology, cosmology, math...he made it all so thrilling that the masses barely knew they were learning.

If you're not already a Sagan fan, try starting with his fiction (Contact--the book is a thousand times better than the movie), and then moving on to his nonfiction. You'll discover from Sagan why we are where and who we are.

Read it. Learn it. Then outgrow it. You'll be honoring Sagan, and you'll be honoring your own humanity.

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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Cosmology at its best December 17, 1998
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Carl Sagan established his reputation as a writer with three works: Cosmos, Broca's Brain, and Contact. Cosmos is renowned as one of the century's best non-fiction works and Contact became a top-grossing, award-winning film. Broca's Brain meets the standard of Sagan's more famous pieces. Even were you to only read one chapter, the book would still be worth purchase. I especially recommend this book to those who have read John F. Haught (theologian) or Stephen Hawking (physicist) and assume that science and religion are locked in a death match.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this! December 23, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Broca's Brain may not be as famous as other works such as Cosmos or Contact, but it's every bit as engaging. In particular, the chapter entitled "A Sunday Sermon" contains tidbits I believe every person on this planet, whatever their religious beliefs or lack therof are, can gain important insight from. He manages to tackle this difficult subject with grace and dignity, without lambasting any view. As he says (paraphrased) "I believe that those beliefs that can't survive scrutiny aren't worth having. Those that do, have at least a kernal of truth within them". So true, Mr. Sagan.

Some of the chapters are simply fun; the chapter on how heavenly bodies are named, and the opening chapter on Paul Broca, and his brain, are like this. You do not need a science degree to enjoy/understand this book. I do possess one, however I read it in early high school, and it's just as relevant to me now.

Carl Sagan performed a difficult feat: to make science interesting and accessable to an entire generation. I am in science, loving every minute of it, due in part to Mr. Sagan's efforts. Don't miss this important and fascinating book that covers an amazing array of subjects.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Re: the Velikovsky debunking July 15, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The chapter entitled "Venus and Dr. Velikovsky" is a masterpiece of pseudo-science debunking. Sagan rightly deplores efforts by mainstream scientists to suppress Velikovsky, both because they were dishonest, and because (as noted by another reviewer) they made Velikovsky a martyr when he might otherwise just have been forgotten. Sagan's dissection of Velikovsky's thesis is painfully specific, precise, methodical, exhaustively researched, utterly polite, and totally relentless. This is the way to take on pseudo-science: with not a trace of snobbery or arrogance, but with simple, devastating logic.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The antidote to science class July 9, 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Most of us who have been educated in the American public school system quickly learned to dread science classes as one of the more boring times of the day. The study of science class in elementary school was usually a teacher reading the text and often being reluctant to address any questions that were not covered in the teacher's edition. In high school the teacher (often hired more for their coaching expertise than academic considerations) would assign reading from the text and not welcome questions not covered in the teacher's edition. Learning was considered accomplished when the students could relate facts memorized from the text. Along the way most of us lost the desire to ask 'why' and simply calculated the time until we could escape as we memorized what was necessary to pass the next test.

Dr Sagan has managed to make science interesting again, to awaken the spark of curiosity that has sadly been extinguished in so many. His writing is clear and eloquent as he invites his readers to share his love of asking 'why?' He explains how scientists look at problems, how to question authorities and determine their worth. In short he manages to undo some of the damage inflicted by years of boring science classes.

This is a compilation of articles Sagan wrote for various magazines (including PLAYBOY - maybe sometimes it was purchased for the articles) during the mid to late 70's. The overlying theme is the general allure of science but also it provides a description of how scientists think about the world around them. The topics covered range from popular science fiction, mythology, frauds and pseudoscience and the 'current state' of scientific research.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Would buy from again
This book was a gift for my BF, who LOVES it. He hasn't been able to put it down since he got it. Shipping was quick and item was exactly as stated.
Published 3 months ago by Tena A. Hawkes
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
What to say?, if you like Carl's Sagan work, then you wil like this book.

Carl Sagan's point of view. amazing!
Published 3 months ago by C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic overview of science
Sagan's classic overview of science in general. Slightly dated but likely to remain a classic for generations. A valuable addition to anyone's science library.
Published 7 months ago by Ronald Murray
5.0 out of 5 stars great book!
This is a great book by a great scientist. Carl Sagan was also a first-rate explainer of scientific concepts and facts to laymen, as the late Isaac Azimov was. Read more
Published 16 months ago by a reader
4.0 out of 5 stars ok
i guess this is my own fault, but, the pages were way more yellow than i expected. other than that, product was fine.
Published 21 months ago by vvance
5.0 out of 5 stars Broca's Brain
.
My favorite books tend to draw the humanities and science into closer alignment and Carl Sagan is the master of that kind of magic. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Kim Burdick
4.0 out of 5 stars Sagan's brain
This is a collection of essays on science, dating from 1974 to 1979. As in other works, Sagan's skill to explain to the common (but informed) reader technically complex problems is... Read more
Published on March 1, 2011 by Guillermo Maynez
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinatingly readable
As with everything by Sagan, this book was so educational (even though it's 30 years old!) and interesting, and makes me regret not going into science! Read more
Published on December 23, 2010 by Amelia Ketzle
5.0 out of 5 stars Science, religion,life and death, and future first contact. great...
I'm a huge Carl Sagan fan. Read cosmos 5 stars, Contact 5 stars and Dragons of Eden 5 stars. So I hoped Broca's Brain would be a good book. It sure was. Excellent. Read more
Published on September 21, 2010 by Thomas Erickson
5.0 out of 5 stars For the Love of Knowledge Sagan is simply the best!
Carl Segan's love of science and enthusiasm for sharing it with others is evident in all of his work. Sagan writes in a way that teaches fascinating information. Read more
Published on June 21, 2008 by C. Clayton
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