A Message From The Master

In celebration of NASA's latest rover to land on Mars, let's listen to a message from the legendary Carl Sagan. I understand Sagan's widow is working with Seth McFarlane (!) and Neil DeGrasse Tyson to bring COSMOS back to television.



Everything I understand about the Universe started with COSMOS and Carl Sagan. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is clearly his heir apparent. Listen to Tyson explain such a large concept as the Universe and how humans are born of stars. I even choked up little. That is the magic that a great teacher brings to his chosen field of study. We need someone with this kind of fierce intelligence to argue away the nonsense of the creationist myths if we ever hope to drag the ignorant into the light.

8 Books That Every Intelligent Person Should Read

1.) The Bible  - “to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”

2.) The System of the World by Isaac Newton  – “to learn that the universe is a knowable place.”

3.) On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin  - “to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”

4.) Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift  – “to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”

5.) The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine  – “to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”

6.) The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith  - “to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”

7.) The Art of War by Sun Tsu  - “to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”

8.) The Prince by Machiavelli  - “to learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it.”