Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.
Interpretation
Books allow us to explore past knowledge and insights.
In this quote, Carl Sagan emphasizes the unique power of books to transport us through time, granting access to the insights and experiences of those who came before us. By reading, we can learn from the wisdom of our ancestors and enrich our understanding of the world.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of literacy, one might quote Carl Sagan to emphasize how reading enhances our understanding of history.
Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
Real knowledge, like every thing else of the highest value, is not to be obtained so easily. It must be worked for, β studied for, β thought for, β and more than all, it must be prayed for.
Above all, though, children are linked to adults by the simple fact that they are in process of turning into them. For this they may be forgiven much. Children are bound to be inferior to adults, or there is no incentive to grow up.
Yeah, I'm a thrill seeker, but crikey, education's the most important thing.
September 11 We thought we'd outdistanced history Told our children it was nowhere near; Even when history struck Columbine, It didn't happen here. We took down the maps in the classroom, And when they were safely furled, We told the young what they wanted to hear, That they were immune from a menacing world. But history isn't a folded-up map, Or an unread textbook tome; Now we know history's a fireman's child Waiting at home alone.
Most areas of intellectual life have discovered the virtues of speculation, and have embraced them wildly. In academia, speculation is usually dignified as theory.
History education in schools is so poor that students often enter college ignorant of the past - and leave just as unenlightened.
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