hello readers it's really good to see
you again
and thanks for watching and thanks to
everybody that subscribes to the channel
I'm Reuben Heppelthwaite and welcome or
welcome back
to keep reading your channel for great
book recommendations I'm currently
concentrating on a series of
great non-fiction books and this week
I'm recommending an extraordinary book
first published in 1981 written by the
American astronomer and scientist Carl
Sagan
and it's called Cosmos there it is
it's a truly wonderful book and if you
haven't read it it's a
must for your to be read list even if
space
isn't your thing trust me on this
now Carl Sagan he says that
this book is the story of cosmic
evolution science and civilization
I bought this book a couple of years ago
and I'd been watching the
wonders of the solar system and the
wonders of the universe on tv
you know the programs
hosted by
Brian Cox not the actor the scientist
and he'd mentioned that this book
was the reason that he wanted to become
a physicist
so I thought well it must be pretty good
and I bought a copy
I didn't find much time to read the
book and I probably wasn't compelled to
read it
and it remained on the bookshelf that is
until
lockdown happened in the uk and with
a bit more time on my hands i picked it
up and i started reading
and i was immediately immersed in this
book for the next few days
I mean cosmos is really a wonderful book
and Carl Sagan takes you on a journey of
the cosmos
starting with our own tiny fragile ball
of rock drifting
in the great cosmic ocean then
to the solar system then to the milky
way
galaxy and far beyond
i've been confused by some of the
science in 
other books on this topic Stephen
Hawking's
book A Brief History of Time is an
example of that but
this book is different and Sagan manages
to explain difficult
scientific ideas with ease and he
makes them both graspable and exciting
and put it this way I now think that I
fully understand the concept of
space-time
thanks to Mr Sagan
what I loved about this book is
that it not only gives you a great
account of 15
billion years of cosmic evolution
from the big bang but it also tells you
all about how science and civilization
evolve todgether
including the socio-economic forces
and the individuals and civilizations
that helped
shape modern science
there are really brilliant sections on
missions to nearby planets, the origins of
life
the evolution of galaxies and even
the library of ancient alexandria
this book is obviously a book about
space
but trust me it's so much more than that
in this book I particularly enjoyed
reading the
last chapter which was titled who
speaks for earth
and this is where Carl Sagan addresses
the issues of the time
which include climate emergency air
pollution
propensities for aggression between
nations
the threat of nuclear war and human
self-destruction
and survival sound familiar? it seems
that
40 years on we're still working on these
issues
and nothing much has changed Carl Sagan
finishes by saying
we speak for earth our obligation to
survive
is owed not just to ourselves but also
to the cosmos
ancient and vast from which we spring
i simply can't wait to read this book
again
so that's another book recommendation
done thanks for watching I really
appreciate it
you can subscribe to the channel today
for more great book recommendations
by clicking in the link in the
description at the bottom of the video
also please send to me your own
recommendations in the comments section
and i'll shout them out next week I
could do with a few new good
books to read don't forget to hit the
thumbs up
if you liked the video and share it with
all of your friends
I'll be back with another recommendation
next thursday
in the meantime stay safe stay healthy
stay positive and keep reading
