The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

When Sagan and Ann Druyan visit Russia in “the closing years of the Soviet Union” (404), a Soviet novelist compliments Americans on their ability to maintain their freedom. Privately, Sagan isn’t so sure. Seven years after the Bill of Rights was signed in 1791, the ruling Federalist Party, riding a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, subverted it with the Alien and Sedition Acts, which effectively allowed them to deny citizenship arbitrarily and imprison anyone who criticized the government. Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, upon seizing control at the next elections, purged the Alien and Sedition Acts from government policy, restoring fundamental freedoms to many Americans. Sagan views the Bill of Rights as a bulwark against such waves of tyranny and authoritarianism. He understands that when persecutory powers are strong, the people can lose their right to an opinion, and are swept up in the violent frenzies that overtake societies. The Bill of Rights is the major tool in keeping Americans free.

Sagan and Druyan examine the reporting of Friedrich von Spee, a Jesuit priest who witnessed the horrors of the witch trials in Germany in the 1600s. Von Spee recounts the self-confirming practices of the witch hunters, and the way paranoia spread through communities as accusations led to more accusations, until society was so riven by distrust and suspicion that even the original accusers were eventually consumed. While those speaking out against witch-trials eventually stopped its spread, von Spee suggests that better public knowledge may have prevented the outbreak, as people could have judged for themselves the verity of claims rather than relying on a persecutory authority.

Sagan and Druyan warn that authoritarian governments often seek to erase history to enforce their own skewed perspectives. This is complicated in contemporary times by the fact that so many methods of communications are owned by very few players, who could easily choose to alter our history. As a positive, non-nationalistic, non-xenophobic example in the scientific community, they focus on the work of Linus Pauling, who was largely responsible for limiting aboveground testing of nuclear weapons. Pauling was a scientist who worked for the common good, rather than to advance his career; he brought his sense of ethics and peace to the international stage. Pauling naturally stands as a counter-example to Edward Teller, the amoral warmonger, who did more to endanger humanity than anyone else. Sagan and Druyan argue that ethical commitments must be ratified in scientific and patriotic thinking.