Influential Book Essay
- Submitted by: skepticalgod
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- Date Submitted: 02/12/2011 09:55 PM
- Pages: 4
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2) Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? (Maximum 1,000 words)
As a child I was always fascinated by science. I used to greatly enjoy my time with the experiments, science fiction movies, etc. All my life I have been closely associated with science but never much appreciated its existence, its purpose & how it relates everything in this universe. That was when I came upon this wonderful & enlightening book called “Cosmos” written by Carl Sagan. It was a birthday gift for me; in fact the most cherished one.
The book gives chronological & comprehensive description of great scientific discoveries & inventions that helped in our investigation of cosmos. The most wonderful aspect of the book is that it ties up the groundbreaking discoveries & major inventions with short biographies of their pioneers. This tells us about the hard work & pains that these people had to bear to bring the truth to surface. It is quite inspiring to know how these great thinkers & philosophers went ahead to reveal truth in spite of the hostility of the existing religious societies & political systems.
As I read through the book I found it profoundly thought provoking .How is it that the Halley’s Comet appears every 76 years? How is it that I am privileged to witness such a celestial & magnificent sight as the solar eclipse? Sometimes I wonder that the world is too perfect to be true. None of the creations of mankind are flawless. How is it then that this creation such as unfathomable universe devoid of any flaws? When I attempt to answer these questions I am forced to stop making scientific arguments & this is where the spiritual realm begins. It was through this book that I was able to identify the harmony that exists in our world.
One of the most amazing theories of the book that deeply inspires my thinking was that about the “cosmic calendar”. It gracefully compresses the 15 billion year local history of earth into a single...
As a child I was always fascinated by science. I used to greatly enjoy my time with the experiments, science fiction movies, etc. All my life I have been closely associated with science but never much appreciated its existence, its purpose & how it relates everything in this universe. That was when I came upon this wonderful & enlightening book called “Cosmos” written by Carl Sagan. It was a birthday gift for me; in fact the most cherished one.
The book gives chronological & comprehensive description of great scientific discoveries & inventions that helped in our investigation of cosmos. The most wonderful aspect of the book is that it ties up the groundbreaking discoveries & major inventions with short biographies of their pioneers. This tells us about the hard work & pains that these people had to bear to bring the truth to surface. It is quite inspiring to know how these great thinkers & philosophers went ahead to reveal truth in spite of the hostility of the existing religious societies & political systems.
As I read through the book I found it profoundly thought provoking .How is it that the Halley’s Comet appears every 76 years? How is it that I am privileged to witness such a celestial & magnificent sight as the solar eclipse? Sometimes I wonder that the world is too perfect to be true. None of the creations of mankind are flawless. How is it then that this creation such as unfathomable universe devoid of any flaws? When I attempt to answer these questions I am forced to stop making scientific arguments & this is where the spiritual realm begins. It was through this book that I was able to identify the harmony that exists in our world.
One of the most amazing theories of the book that deeply inspires my thinking was that about the “cosmic calendar”. It gracefully compresses the 15 billion year local history of earth into a single...