Chapter 25 Summary and Analysis

Sagan proposes that science and the scientific method can be used to improve society. This is not in the dialectical sense of Marxism or in the sense of conducting human experiments, but by a degree of social experimentation to see what works to improve the quality of life. The idea of using science to improve society is completely compatible with the notion of democracy and its free exchange of ideas. Noting that Thomas Jefferson always described himself as a scientist and understood that democracy itself is an experiment, the astronomer underscores the fact that both science and democracy are at their base iconoclastic, revolutionary, and ever changing.

Jefferson advocated freedom of speech and separation of church and state as essential pillars for democracy. He understood how the powerful take human rights away from the less powerful when given the opportunity. He...