Billions & Billions
Carl Sagan
An amazing book. This is a smaller book than his previous book The Demon Haunted World but no less powerful. Sagan makes a case and pleads for the sanity and safety of the human race. While his previous book possessed a certain manic drive, this one is, by contrast, a more somber approach. This may be because Dr. Sagan knew, as he was writing it, that he was dying. Perhaps this knowledge was the instrument that most dramatically changed his writing voice, because it is changed. The message is just as strong, though: it's up to us to save ourselves. No ultra-wise alien, no omnipotent god, no outside force is going to save us. If we're going to take the next step, whatever that step might be, we're going to have to take it ourselves. We can't see where we're going, perhaps, but we have to go there. It's a beautiful book, a peaceful book, and a fitting final work.
