Format:
Book
Title:
Billions and billions : thoughts on life and death at the brink of the millennium / Carl Sagan.
Author:
Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996.
Call Number:
500 Sagan
Edition:
1st ed.
Publisher, Date:
New York : Random House, c1997.
Description:
xii, 241 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Summary:
"In this book, his last, Carl Sagan shows once again his extraordinary ability to interpret the mysteries of life and the majesty of the universe for the general reader."--BOOK JACKET. "In Billions and Billions Sagan applies what we know about science, mathematics, and space to everyday life as well as to the exploration of many essential questions concerning the environment and our future. Ranging far and wide in subject matter, he takes his readers on a soaring journey, from the invention of chess to the possibility of life on Mars, from Monday Night Football to the relationship between the United States and Russia, from global warming to the abortion debate. And, on a more intimate note, we are given a rare glimpse of the author himself as he movingly describes his valiant fight for his life, his love for his family, and his personal beliefs about death and God."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects:
Science -- Miscellanea -- Popular works.
Contents:
Pt. I. The Power and Beauty of Quantification. 1. Billions and Billions. 2. The Persian Chessboard. 3. Monday-Night Hunters. 4. The Gaze of God and the Dripping Faucet. 5. Four Cosmic Questions. 6. So Many Suns, So Many Worlds -- Pt. II. What are Conservatives Conserving? 7. The World That Came in the Mail. 8. The Environment: Where Does Prudence Lie? 9. Croesus and Cassandra. 10. A Piece of the Sky Is Missing. 11. Ambush: The Warming of the World. 12. Escape from Ambush. 13. Religion and Science: An Alliance -- Pt. III. Where Hearts and Minds Collide. 14. The Common Enemy. 15. Abortion: Is It Possible to Be Both "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice"? / Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. 16. The Rules of the Game. 17. Gettysburg and Now / Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. 18. The Twentieth Century. 19. In the Valley of the Shadow. Epilogue / Ann Druyan.
ISBN:
0345379187 (pbk.)
0679411607