“A funhouse maze of biology, psychology, evolution, fact, theory, probability, possibility, and awe … Warning Those who regard the human condition as the inviolable perch at the top of the evolutionary heap, the gold watch at the end of the great chain of being, will find much in
“In this book Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan illuminate some of the most daunting questions of our time, and any time, sometimes explaining them straight out, sometimes challenging the reader to contemplate the truths we hold dear.
“Jam-packed with fascinating anecdotes, a playful wit and humor, a wide-ranging command of relevant scientific data, and (a warning to readers who are easily scandalized), an ‘indecorous explicitness on matters sexual.’ ”
“Superb.”
—Tom Peters
“Their latest literary wonder.”
“It has been a long time since I came across a nonfiction book as compelling as this one. At times I found myself impatiently turning pages, as if I were reading a murder mystery and couldn’t wait to discover the ending.”
“An eloquent attempt to place the human species in context … They use the same compelling style that made
“A coherent, moving story … Philosophical, poetic, even witty, [with] a sense of almost religious awe.”
“Excellent … An important book that deserves to be widely read and discussed.”
—Monroe Strickberger
Author of the textbook
writing in the
“Formidably intelligent and well-informed.”
“Hauntingly appealing. Carl Sagan is probably the best literary stylist American science has produced since Loren Eiseley and Lewis Thomas.”
“Informative, enlightening, and refreshingly unacademic.”
“It is easy to hear his familiar voice guiding the reader through time and the early rumblings of the universe through the development of DNA, evolution, and the rise of modern primates.”
“Sagan’s contribution to increasing public understanding of science and making provocative connections between different areas are at the highest level of benefit to our society.”
—John Bahcall
Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, NJ
“It has sex. It has humor. It has drama. It’s what people go to the movies for.”
—Steve Knight
KIEV-AM, Los Angeles
“They go boldly where many scientists have feared to tread … And what a journey it is!”
“Eloquent … Visionary … Powerfully imagined.”
“Engaging … Lyrical … Stunning.”
ALSO BY CARL SAGAN AND ANN DRUYAN
SOME OTHER BOOKS BY CARL SAGAN
ALSO BY ANN DRUYAN
A
A Ballantine Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright © 1992 by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc, New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto
This edition published by arrangement with Random House, Inc
Permissions acknowledgments for previously published
material can be found on this page
