Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
Carl Sagan
The book "Brock's Brain" is a deep and poetic story of an outstanding astronomer and astrophysicist about romance and responsibility, risks and prospects of science. What place does it occupy in the life of mankind and how does it differ from pseudoscience? Where did the myths about Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, ancient astronauts and plant emotions come from, and why is it important to debunk them? What planets and satellites of the solar system can be suitable for colonization, how did life originate, and where in deep space is it still possible? How are planets and galaxies given names, and what mistakes did great scientists make during their long years of striving for the truth? How can science explain NDEs, and how is this likely related to the birth experience? How is religion related to science? What is the future of artificial intelligence and space exploration? Carl Sagan prompted all these reflections by visiting the Museum of Man in Paris. In particular, he was shocked by the collection of Paul Broca, where the brain of Broca himself is located - the great anthropologist, especially famous for the discovery in the human brain of the area responsible for articulate speech. For all the scale and informativeness of the book, the author's skill and intonation inherent only to Sagan make her reading accessible and joyful for the widest reader.
