Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edge of Science

Blending science, philosophy, poetry, and personal experience, Sagan presents a series of essays kaleidoscopic in style and tone. He explains that, "this book is a book of science, but it is also one of philosophy." Both are evident in his explorations of life, death, and the universe. Replete with quotations from everyone from Galileo to Dr. Seuss, his writing is often arcane, with sentences the length of which would delight a German philosopher, and he expects the reader to be familiar with the intellectual background of his musings; for instance, "The death wish...stems from this protosemiotic or ur-semiotic drive to return to equilibrium." Later, he states, "The reintroduction of function%E2%80%94the reunion of ontos and telos with bios%E2%80%94is as empirically valid as it is spiritually salutary." Sagan is of noble scientific pedigree%E2%80%94his mother was evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis, and his father astronomer Carl, of whom he shares warts-and-all remembrances%E2%80%94though in his essay on sex, readers will learn more about the habits of crabs and slugs than they may like. This is not a book to read quickly or to swallow whole, but for those who are intrigued by the great imponderables of existence, Sagan offers tasty morsels to savor. (May)