Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

The book is a bit dated of course as it was written in the 1970's, but the material and the presentation appeared to be timeless. I had never read much by Dr. Sagan prior to reading this and this was a great introduction to his clear thinking and writing style. His theories on anthropology will remain current but it was humorous to read of new computer games, such as Pong and Space Wars.

The first time I read Dragons of Eden was about thirty years ago. I enjoyed the book more this time because I have a better understanding of computers and neuroanatomy. This is a great book for a student to learn the evolution of the human brain from it's reptilian origins.

I read this book years ago when Dr Sagan was alive. I wanted to reread it because I remember the insights in it were interesting but I had forgotten a lot. It is still interesting but with so much time passing I'm suspecting that many "facts" are out of date, thus putting into jeopardy many of his suppositions.

So Sagan has lots of fascinating information on the various brain elements and their history along with current brain research findings. He's most engaging when he theorizes about the possible plight of the dinosaurs and their smaller brains. His decision to discredit other possibilities like UFOs and ancient technology is disappointing but not unexpected.

I came into this book as a huge fan of Carl Sagan. I had read several of his other books and been extremely impressed, especially Cosmos and The Demon Haunted World. There have been few writers who could communicate both the wonders and importance of science so eloquently. Sagan always gets lots of props for inspiring wonder in his readers (and rightfully so!) but his books are about a lot more than just pie-in-the-sky awe; there's lots of philosophy and argumentation in his works. He believes in science as the gateway to truth, and shuns all superstitious, non-evidence backed thinking. As someone who wants to truly learn and understand rather than accept flimsy half-explanations, I love his work. The Dragons of Eden is no different; he comes out from the start and lets you know that he will only take seriously claims backed up by evidence, so any dualistic view of the mind with no backing from empirical data and experimentation is rightfully off the table for serious discussion. This doesn't mean he is ignorant of or closed to the insights that can come from myth, religion, and human traditions; the book is littered with references to them (I actually learned a lot of about several religious traditions). But when looking for truth and reality, these myths have to bring real evidence or cease to be relevant.

What I do love about this book is the importance of the subject. There is nothing that should be more crucial in science that the study of the human brain. It is what makes humans so unique. Without it and its special properties, the conduct of science itself would be impossible. Sagan makes his appreciation for and the importance of the subject clear throughout the book. It is likely why he chose to write about something outside his realm of expertise. It is also something exceedingly complicated, and as a result even today, 36 years after this book's publication, prominent brain scientists often describe the study of the human brain as in its infancy.

With this in mind I am skeptical of some of the brain science presented in this book. I do not pretend to be any kind of expert myself, but some of the scientific models presented here may have been at the forefront of neuroscience in 1977, but today have become outdated or even disproven. Sagan spends much time explaining Paul MacLean's "triune brain" hypothesis, where the brain has three largely distinctly functioning areas (the neocortex, limbic system, and R-complex), and also stresses differences in function of the right and left cerebral hemispheres. Those sections still make for fascinating reading as Sagan makes tremendous explanations and draws profound social and historical insights from these models. Just don't think you're getting perfectly up-to-date scientific data. Sagan also spends much of the end of the book speculating on the future of computers and human-made machines, an area that obviously has seen tremendous advances since 1977. He could not have imagined that someone like me would sit at a laptop computer and type away about his book 36 years later. But despite being hugely outdated, I found this section to be extremely enjoyable and interesting because Sagan was predicting a future that now has already happened. Most of his predictions were pretty accurate.

While parts are outdated, other parts make for fascinating scientific information that is still just as relevant today as it was in 1977. This book introduces the "Cosmic Calendar", where the entire history of the Universe since the Big Bang is set to scale as if it occurred in one year. The earth did not form until September and all of "recorded" history occurred in the last hour before midnight-exactly the kind of humbling truth that Sagan delivered so well. The parts on primate and early human evolution are fascinating and I imagine would be even more eye-opening to someone who had not been formally educated on those subjects. I love it when Sagan extends the scientific data to social and political issues, and there is plenty of that here, though perhaps less than in some of his other books.

Overall, despite some reservations, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in science and willing to leave any superstitious preconceptions at the cover (just like all Sagan's books!) Just realize some of the science is outdated. If you're just getting into Carl Sagan, I wouldn't start here, but there certainly is no going wrong with any of his books.

His speculations are irresistibly insane and reasonable at
the same time. Enjoyed reading this.

Breakthroughs f2f didkxkfiskfjdldkdksksjfjskdkskckckskskckx hmm alchemical f2f akkxjclalkdjcjskak err jjxkckd

I bought this book based on the reviews stating that it is a "Scientific masterpiece". This book is a load of horse manure. To the folks claiming that this is a scientific masterpiece; this is a book of "Speculations". It is not science. Also, a lot of the speculations here do not even have a proper basis. This man makes idotic claims that fetuses have "gills" because humans were once in the ocean. That is just stupid. The gill like structure in an embryo is no breathing mechanism. Darwin and Haeckel were two people before Sagan who proposed this idea.Ernst Haeckel was a professor of zoology in Germany. In 1868, he fabricated the embryologic evidence for evolution by fraudulently producing the diagrams to “prove” the theory. Reputable German scientists immediately began refuting his evidence, demonstrating that Haeckel had falsified his pictures.
The so-called gill slits of a human embryo have nothing to do with gills, and the human embryo does not pass through a fish stage or any other evolutionary stage. The development of the human embryo reveals steady progress toward a fully functional human body. Never in the course of development does a human embryo absorb oxygen from water as fish do with gills. (The human embryo is fully supplied with oxygen through the umbilical cord.) In fact, these “gill slits” are not even slits.

So what are these misnamed structures? Actually, they are nothing more than folds in the region of the tiny embryo’s throat. By the 28th day of life, the embryo’s brain and spinal cord seem to be racing ahead of the rest of the body in growth. Therefore, for a time, the spinal cord is actually longer than the body, forcing the body to curl and flexing the neck area forward. (This curled embryo with the long spinal cord is mistakenly accused by some people of having a tail.) Just as many people develop a double chin when bending the neck forward, so the embryo has folds in its neck area due to this flexing.

I understand he is a highly decorated professor. I truly believe he is good in his field of study and work and has achieved many great things in his life. However, that is not qualification enough to take his "Speculations" and assume they are scientific proof.

Carl Sagan's books are always a pleasure to read, and this one is no exception. He admits the subject matter is not within his realm of specialty, although he occasionally divagates into more familiar astronomical subjects. I thought the subtitle is a pretty accurate representation of the book, with its primary focus on the development of the human brain over millenia. Most notable is the word "speculations." To wit, I thought it was fascinating to read about Sagan's intelligent speculations on human characteristics, such as attributing our propensity to dream about falling to a possible fear among our arboreal ancestors, and the possibility that our primatial ancestors exterminated other species that presented signs of intelligence (although I disagree with the allusion that we should be making amends for the actions of ancestors if this was indeed the case).

Although published in 1977, I thought little was outdated except maybe the discussions on artificial intelligence in technology, but the book was still a great read for anyone interested in natural history and biology.

A DEEP, DEEP EXPLOREATION OF THE DEVELOPEMENT OF THE HUMAN MIND.
Our expanded minds is supposed to separate HUMANS from the lower animals, for some this is the case.
For most, because of BRAIN WASHING, most end up confused and regreesed.
The hallmark of a progressive mind is one that allows for uncluttered thought in SILENCE in which we draw our own conclusions after weighing the multiple noise put out by the questionable news media.

BRAIN WASHING, TEACHES YOU WHAT TO THINK.
HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHES YOU HOW TO THINK.

I did not read the details. Should have. The photo shows a hardcover. But I paid $12 for a paperback. Not happy. Make sure you read the details from this seller. I was misled. They should have used an actual photo of the item. They did not.

This book deserves every award it got, and I would recommend it to literally anyone who can read and has even a passing interest in science. As someone who grew up watching Cosmos, I have huge respect for Carl Sagan and his ability to explain complicated scientific facts, ideas, theories, or principles in a way that any lay person can understand. In this book, he really takes that to the next level. He is truly a phenomenal writer, and I was hooked on this book from start to finish. It is equal parts scientific fact and mindblowing interpretation of those facts from the mind of Sagan himself. Parts if it even had me laughing out loud (the orchids and the beetles, for instance), which doesn't generally happen in science books. He just knows exactly how to talk about things without making them sound boring (for the facts) or self-centered (for his interpretations).

I end up talking about things from this book a lot, whether it be chimp linguistics, split-brain experiments, or even his thoughts about where evolution goes from here. It's satisfying to know and fun to talk about. If you want to know more about who we are as humans, this is the book to look at. There's nothing like it out there.

If you're looking for a book that is exceptionally well-written, completely engrossing, absolutely fascinating, and will have you feeling like you really learned a lot and expanded your mind, then for God's sake get a copy of this book immediately.

This is a classic book from an esteemed old friend who prematurely died of cancer. If Sagan could re-write this 1977 book with today's knowledge, he might update 10% of it, but the remaining 90% is still current.

Intro: Sagan dispenses with the notion that the mind is an entity separate from the brain.

Chapter I: Sagan puts the 15 billion years history of the universe in a time-frame. If this 15 billion years were fit into only one year, all of recorded history would fit into the last 10 seconds of December 31st.

Chapter II: An overview of DNA and the human brain.

Chapter III: Human nature can best be understood by realizing that the intelligent capabilities of the neocortex evolved in layers on top of the reptilian brain which still operates for us unconsciously. It is known as our limbic system.

Chapter IV: Australopithecus, homo erectus, and others - a 1977 view of the lineage of human evolution since our split from the common ancestor we shared with chimps. Quite a bit of this information has come into closer focus with the use of DNA tracking of ancestry.

Chapter V: The linguistic ability of chimps may have been slightly overestimated in 1977.

Chapter VI: "Major evolution beyond the reptiles has been accompanied by and perhaps requires dreams...a world of magic and ritual, passion and anger, but very rarely of skepticism and reason."

Chapter VII: The most significant creative human activities have been made possible by collaborative co-operation between the left (analytical) and right (intuitive) hemispheres.

Chapter IX: Future evolution of the human brain - some thoughts.

Chapter X: Gravity, quantum mechanics, and the great bulk of physics and chemistry are observed to be the same elsewhere as here. What about extraterrestrials?

The prose of Sagan was exceptional and this book is a pleasure to read. He was one of the first scientists to attempt to write for the layman and "Dragons of Eden" was one of his early efforts - a definite 5 stars.

The model of the triune brain. Apparently this is not supported now in neuro-anatomy. Our brains evolved by accretion: we can't fundamentally change our brain with evolution, because we wouldn't be able to survive during the change. The only way around this is just to keep adding bits onto our brains and to try to change the functions of parts of our brains. In particular sleep. Sagan suggests that sleep originally happened during the day, and that since we can't stop sleeping we were however able to move it to the night. Lot of interesting bits of information on the human brain: its evolution, the brains of chimpanzees. Talks about dreams being the suppression of our left hemisphere, similarly for marijuana. In the end of the book he is trying to convince us that the next stage in our brains will be extra-somatic (somatic=of the body), by adding computers to our brains to massively increase our knowledge or abilities. Changing the actually physical nature of the brain in the genome is probably harder, and he explains how we've already been modifying the brain, both by chemicals and implants.

The Boston Globe refers to those who are deaf and mute as the, 'Deaf and Dumb', in an artical about Carl Sagan. Hmmm. I know that Boston is the city of banned books and open vice but this outrages term used in ANY 'modern' public newspaper is little short of a criminal act of ignorance. Shame upon you, Boston Globe.

The topic of evolution is one of the more controversial subjects in science, even ignoring creationism, intelligent design and other religious-leaning dogmas. The branches of the tree of life, especially that branch where humans appear, are still in dispute. In this book, Dr. Sagan takes the reader along this tree from its very root and slowly upwards to humans. By taking this path, he can show how various characteristics that evolved aeons ago are still with us; that in some sense we and every other creature are living fossils. Along the way, he takes the occasional tangent onto other branches, and shows us what was, and what might have been if certain branches had continued.

Focusing on humans, the book makes the innovative suggestion that our dreams and subconscious feelings somehow link us to our past; that many of our shared instincts and much of what we think when we sleep was determined by our evolutionary history. The title of the book is one example. Humans evolved from smaller mammals who lived during the reign of dinosaurs. As the bottom layer of the food chain, these ancient mammals lived in the fear and awe of large reptiles. Any nightmares these creatures had probably included the threat of large reptiles. Hence the common fear shared by many humans of long, skinny reptiles such as lizards; fears that are wholly out of proportion to possible threat. These then are the dragons of our Eden.

All in all, this is a great book to read. Written by an astronomer and physicist, it offers insight into the life sciences that are worthy of attention. The strands that Dr. Sagan draws together make this work a good example of an interdisciplinary work. I recommend it.

Carl Sagan died in 1996, a loss to us all. But his resonances linger.

He might not agree with me on that -- because after all he was a hard-nosed scientist -- but one of his resonances intersected my thoughts the other day and wouldn't leave me alone. I reflexively Googled the list of usual suspects and homed in on his 1977 The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence.

Google. It's fascinating how the mind works these days in concert with the internet's near-instantaneous, finger-tip access to information. What's more fascinating is that the internet wasn't around -- at least in its public form -- thirty-some years ago when Sagan wrote this book.

Sometimes -- as Santyana observed -- it's useful to look at the past. Sometimes, it's just fun.

First, the context of the past... When this book was published in 1977, I was an environmental engineer, working for a nuclear utility, seven years out of Vietnam and six years out of graduate school. Sagan was a renowned scientist at the time, a well-known leading-edge thinker and popularizer of science. I admired not only his ability to distill science to a level understandable to the layperson, but also his stern advocacy of scientific method and skeptical inquiry. So I bought the book, read it, enjoyed it.

Then I put the book in the attic.

Fast-forward to the present... The resonance had to do with computer games. I was watching my grandson play one. Sagan had talked about games, I remembered, in the context of their potential for human development. I had an attic-cleanout going on at the time and -- lo and behold -- suddenly there's the book in my hand. Another resonance, maybe. Faded red cover, yellowed pages, a paperback. I found what I was looking for pretty quickly: toward the end of the book Sagan observes that Pong and Space War "suggest a gradual elaboration of computer graphics so that we gain an experiential and intuitive understanding of the laws of physics". I went back to watch my grandson play -- on a high-def screen, with enormous processing power in a tiny chip, mind you -- and reflected that "elaboration" of the graphics over thirty years hasn't been exactly "gradual". Not sure what game my grandson was playing, or what if any potential he was developing, but one thing was clear: the kid had a fine intuitive appreciation of physics. I didn't play; he would've wiped me out in thirty seconds.

Another resonance as I thumbed through this old book: Sagan talks about "extrasomatic" (i.e., outside the body) extensions of the human brain. He has an interesting chart that plots the number of bits of information that can be stored in the brains of various organisms. Mammals, and modern humans in particular, have the greatest capacity. But if you were to include the bits of information available to humans outside their brains -- in libraries and similar cultural sources -- Sagan points out that human capacity would be completely off his chart. Which brings us back to Google (or other search engines or computer databases or even the digital world in general)... think about it: something you were trying to recall, or maybe figure out, is now just a mouse-click away. And that capability is accelerating. Is that edifying? Enlightening? Enabling? Frightening? Or all of these?

But computer gaming and extrasomatic brain extensions are really just little off-hand slices of this still-topical book. Sagan talks both broadly and deeply about the many fascinating aspects of the evolution of human intelligence. He speaks of the development of the physical brain; for example the early neocortex and its adaptation to increase survival skills. But he also covers more subtle non-physical influences on evolving intelligence, for example cultural feedback paths such as introspection. I was particularly struck by his observation that "the richest, most intricate and most profound of these [introspections] were called myths". He goes on to agree with the Roman historian Salustius' definition of myths as "things which never happened but always are". Now that's clearly another resonance, because as a writer (with my daughter) of metaphysical sci-fi, we're always trying to tap into fundamental myths and recast them in the trappings of modern science and technology.

So, I really enjoyed looking back, re-reading this book, comparing it to the present. I was struck again by the approachability of the man's writing, the depth of his knowledge, his humanity. Some fascinating speculations here, by a masterful communicator. Thank you, Dr. Sagan.

~Denning
(aka Lee Denning, author of Monkey Trap and Hiding Hand)
Hiding Hand

Carl Sagan is one of the select few prolific non-fiction writers who can manage to create a masterpiece each time. While much of _Dragons of Eden_ is dated, the book was way ahead of its time and probably remains on the cutting edge of theory in the evolution of human intellegence (at least in the popular realm).
Those areas in which the book is clearly a generation old (Sagan predicts that someday computers will have television like interfaces, that regular people may have access to them and that they someday may exist in peoples' homes), are endearing, yet they also exemplify Sagan's foresight and wisdom. Predictions like these, and others (such as the then-absurd notion that genetic engineering may someday become science fact), are what sets him apart. As a scientist, he is a skeptic in the purest sense, but that doesn't mean he lost his imagination and ambition. He was not a cynic.
I recommend this book to just about anyone who is a Sagan fan. However, it isn't his best work. I would certainly place either _The Demon Haunted World_ and _Billions and Billions_ above this.

Now I definitely need to read more of Carl Sagan's books. This one is not very recent (he speaks of a new video game called "Pong"), but full of thought-provoking and interesting concepts concerning intelligence and evolution. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had a chapter pertaining to dreamstates. ("Tales of Dim Eden") Also pertaining to Eden, he illustrates how the Genesis story of Man and his Fall can in some senses really be accurate, not (pseudo)scientifically (as in Creationism...obviously it is a book on evolution and phylogeny) but as a metaphor for several characteristics of the human races emerging onto the present scene of a civilisation stemmed from the frontal lobes. Which in the big picture has been very recent, to show this he condenses the life of the cosmos to a scale Cosmic Calendar of 365 days. Us Earthlings almost miss the New Year's party. Neurologically, the areas of the brain are explored and their respective functions as well as connections to mammallian and reptilian ancestors. (A triune model is used) Finally, he briefly touches on our search for extraterrestrial intelligence and, very appropriately to this setting, exposes the West's lack of appreciation for scientific knowledge the world which we inhabit and our irrational attraction to superstition and bogus claims of occult psuedo-science... something I just had to include somewhere in here.

Carl Sagan’s The Dragons of Eden provides a history of the development of the human brain from the earliest beginnings of life forms to the present. Sagan was, of course, a brilliant scientist and this book shows it. At the same time that is the problem—it is too scientific, too much like a textbook on human biology cum anthropology. Sagan makes a lot of interesting points, but fails to say what is really useful to the lay reader. For example he notes that the average human brain weighs 1,375 grams and the average female brain 150 grams less. Of course men are bigger than women on average. What he does not say is what accounts for the differences in male and female intellectual thinking; why women tend to do better in languages and men in math for example. He also notes that sheer brain size is not equal to intellectual ability. Albert Einstein’s brain was average in size; Anatole France had a brain half the size of Lord Byron. There is, however, a positive correlation between brain size and intelligence. Sagan also does not go into why some people are good at certain intellectual things. For example when I was in primary school one of the students in my class could spell any word in our spelling book from the start of the school year, yet was a poor student in every other subject. What is it about our brains that make some people good at some things—music, art—etc. What, in other words, is the connection between talent and the brain?

Sagan covers a number of topics that may be of interest to many people and thus I am not suggesting that it is not worth reading for certain individuals. His main point is that humans have the largest brain for their size of any animal and that our brains have developed over a long period of history in a way that has led to our superior position compared to other species. This development needs to continue into the future. At the same time I personally do not want to try to wade through a lot of scientific information that I will forget the minute I close the book. Students who are studying biology, anthropology, and related subjects and professionals in these fields may well benefit from the book. But the ordinary layperson that just wants some practical information about the brain written in simple language would do well to look elsewhere. On the other hand, Cosmos, Sagan's masterwork, is brilliant and well worth reading by anyone.

The book is clever in an annoying way, as if the writer is showing off. The title (of which more later) is, well, cute.

I thought, This can't be the same man who so delightfully presented the vastness of the universe, or the star stuff which we all are made of. It has too many errors. Finally I looked at the date. The "errors" are not errors. The book is simply out of date. What is most frustrating is the awareness of the recent well-known discoveries about the brain, discoveries made after Sagan's death and so necessarily missing. So the book fails to mention, for example, the difference between the state of the brain shortly after puberty versus its state in full adulthood. It also lacks the awareness that molecules travel back and forth between the brain and the gut, carrying information that influences our thoughts and emotions. Instead, it focuses almost entirely on the evolutionarily early versions of the brain, often called the reptilian level of the brain (hence the title's use of the words Dragons [reptilian] and Eden [ancient]).

I wish I could see how vividly Sagan would have presented all the new material which emerged after his death. However, I see from the other reviews that other readers find the cleverness charming, and do not mind the lack of the new material, and so I cannot tell newcomers to eschew the book. Just be aware that it is dated. If only Sagan were still alive, writing a revised updated version on the topic, THAT is the book I wish I could read.

I recently read "The Dragons of Eden - Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence" by Carl Sagan. I was inspired by his more famous book on the universe called "Cosmos" which I had read last year. I would personally rate this book more interesting and insightful than Cosmos. Cosmos was expected to be a great book as it was a product of one of the great space scientists ever. Human intelligence and neuroscience had never been Sagan's area of research, which he himself acknowledges in the book. In terms of explaining the basic human brain function, Sagan has topped even most of the present day neuroscience researchers.

Though I have a masters degree through research in neuroscience (Hippocampus, in particular), I never had the access to the amount of in-depth knowledge which Sagan provides in this book. I have developed a new sense of love for neuroscience and human intelligence after reading this book. Sagan, being a strong supporter of evolution, provides ample evidences to support his causes. The beauty about Sagan's writing is that he accepts as mere speculations those ideas which he himself is not confident. This is indeed the true character of some of the top notch researchers, whose percentage is sadly dwindling over the years.

I was amazed how Sagan uses the mapping of the entire evolution of universe to a single calendar year and explains evolution. Sagan provides credit to top researchers wherever it is due, which makes the book even more credible. I liked the sections of interaction of right and left brain hemispheres through carpus callosum. I could relate such ideas with the popular neuroscience texts I read over the past 6 years. Sagan even talks about the brains of other species and how the human intelligence is more to do with the evolution of a larger cortex region. Sagan also provides an analysis of what happens when one dreams and digresses at many places without getting the reader bored.

This book is a real treasure for those who are interested in understanding the evolution of human intelligence through the words of the best popular science writer. I have already ordered for reading his another masterpiece, "The Demon Haunted World", which exposes pseudo and fake science. Sagan condemns such fake irrational ideas proclaimed as science towards the end in "The Dragons of Eden". I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in gaining knowledge of basic neuroscience, cognition, and evolution. I can guarantee that it will be an once in a lifetime experience of tracking own existence at present. This book is a must read for people of any age who can understand basic English.

This book is a timely and fortunate publishing in these days of division on the evolution vs. creationism. Only one thing. It was written almost 30 years ago by uber-genius, Carl Sagan. And boy he really covers it all in this relatively small book on such a vast subject. He vulgarises well enough for the layman to understand, although it doesn't get informationally dense at times. What did you expect? It's Carl Sagan.

The book is pretty simple. It takes us through a speculative ride through the evolution of human intelligence. Carl Sagan once said that if you want to make apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. Thankfully he doesn't start there; he picks up around the time we were but mere bacteria and works from there. He goes through all levels of monkeys and then hominids always keeping in perspective that we aren't that far away from being just apes in trees. Just a few aborted mutations and we're still flinging crap at each other in trees.

Yes he vulgarises, but not as much as I. I just love to kid. On the contrary, Carl Sagan is a poet with a doctorate in biology. Who knew that cold science could inspire such warmth of creativity? He writes of humans carrying memory from our earlier times, swinging from tree branches. Here's what he said:

"And after we returned to the savannahs and abandoned the trees, did we long for those great graceful leaps and ecstatic moments of weightlessness in the shafts of sunlight of the forest roof?"

After reading this, I had a tear in my eye, because I remembered, I remembered being a child swinging from branch to branch in trees. Bending entire cedar trees to catch the next trunk, all this 20 or 30 feet up high. Was my compulsion for tree climbing simply buried genetic memory asserting itself? Who knows, but damn does swinging from trees beat having to wake up in the morning to go to work. The good old days.

He confidently links our technological leaps as being the obvious continuance of our ape heritage. As apes living up in the branches we had certain built in fears.

One of them was falling out of the branches and cracking ones skull open on the forest floor below. This fear is built in from birth. The baby ape knows innately that falling down is certain death. Sagan connects that to dreams we all have, dreams of falling. He posits that this dream we all have is vestigial of our times as tree dwellers. That somewhere inside us, the primal fear of falling out of the tree still lingers. That this dream is a built in security system to keep us from falling out of trees while we sleep, such as we did eons ago. This primal fear manifests itself in our technology. Notice in elevators (perhaps the modern ones don't hold true, but they did back 30 years ago) that the indicator for down is red and the indicator for up is green. Red, meaning death, green, meaning the canapé of leaves. Simple coincidence? I'd agree with Sagan in saying no.

The book goes on with many other affiliations between our ancestral beings and the intelligence we have today. He then ventures further with incorporating technology into our size challenged brain and then of course, Sagan being Sagan, further speculates about AI and extra-terrestrial intelligence.

What I enjoyed from this book, being an IT specialist, is his use of the computer intelligence model to compare with human intelligence. I myself often use this comparison model. This is a model I understand well and made me understand his scientific arguments with ease. He does this throughout the book but still keeps it at an understandable level. But his naiveté about his knowledge of computers would crush him by today's techno-mayhem slowly encapsulating us, but I digress. He would have adapted expertly to today's technology anyway.

He doesn't shy away from controversy either. He even takes on abortion by detailing how the human brain becomes human when the neo-cortex is formed because it's what differentiates us from other species. So he pretty much gives his opinion on when an embryo becomes human. And then dares you to say otherwise by upgrading simple animals to the same held ethical standards on life. Pretty spiffy work and enjoyable. I just love to see genius at work, even though he accuses anything outside the scientific method as "soft" science or pseudo-science, but then again a scientist always preaches to his choir.

I give this book a mind evolving 5 outta 5. It's a must read for anyone, for any reason. Read it, thank me later.

I've been comfortable with the concept of evolution, ever since I realised how it worked. My mother was horrified and called in the religious nazis to make me see the true light, but they couldn't save me!
Carl Sagan is someone I've been watching and reading since the mid 70s, and I've come to respect his views, based on solid science, he has the ability to make me expand my thinking, and this book is no exception.
The Dragons of Eden goes beyond the familiar terrain of high school evolution, the giraffe's neck, the development of fins and legs and hands and eyes. No this is ground-breakingly new, a journey into the evolution of what sits just behind my eyes - so different and yet so intimate that I couldn't put this book down.
There is a LOT to think about here, and though it is a bit dated here in the 21st Century, years after Sagan himself died untimely, it is a seminal work, and one I love dearly.
Highly recommended for all thinking creatures.

Note: I made some Mormon reader angry over my negative reviews of books written by Mormons out to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as soon as they are posted. Oh, well

Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and note that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to a great book.

A reviewer at the "Boston Globe" said it all when he asked: "How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and elegant book?"

There are so many great lines and passages in this book that even now it is timely. I hope the following tip makes your reading of my review worthwhile. Thanks:

Buy the Ballantine paperback edition with the wonderful mural-like foldout showing an ape man and woman as Adam and Eve in a Garden of Eden that includes dinosaurs.

This is an instructive and entertaining book, but there is an underlying philosophical message that the reader needs to be aware of.

"The Dragons of Eden" is based on a theory that divides the human brain into three concentric layers that have evolved over millions of years, with each successive layer corresponding to a level in our evolutionary history. This may be a useful model, but it also lends itself to being misused as the basis for a narrow view that looks down upon the role of the older parts of the brain and exaggerates the status of the neocortex. Such a misuse is exactly what Sagan is guilty of. Instead of emphasizing the interplay between the three areas of the brain, which allows us to balance reason with emotion and instinct, he takes the model and twists it to suit his overly rational view of human nature.

His is a negative, Freudian view of the unconscious. But whereas Freud stressed the misunderstood importance of these functions, Sagan merely stresses their primitive aspect. For example, he feels that dreams and sleep are a holdover from our evolutionary past. They are a period when the reptilian brain comes alive, takes over, and turns what is by day a well-ordered and rationally supervised operation into a nighttime playground of bizarre symbolism, illogical foolishness, and disguised sexuality. It bothers him that he has such weak linguistic skills in his dreams and that he can't even perform simple arithmetical calculations. He openly confesses his admiration for those unusual individuals who seem to need only two or three hours of sleep a night. In fact, one suspects that Sagan would ideally have humans living totally in the waking world of the neocortex, although it is very unappealing to contemplate a machine-like mind that never turns off and lets the unpredictable and creative unconscious take over, giving it free rein to roam, do the impossible, and experience exhilarating or frightening things.

Sagan idealizes the cerebral cortex as a logical, computer-like operation, and he seems to have an aversion toward the primitive depths of the mind. Who knows what beasts may lurk there? And yet his book itself is proof of how we use rational arguments to justify underlying attitudes and impulses. The impression one gets is that a conflict between cool intellect and emotional passion or obsession is present in Sagan's own complex personality. This was sublimated into a drive to become a proselytizer for science, to the point where popularizing almost turns into evangelicizing, or something even worse. Not content with merely spreading the news of the good works of science, Sagan seems overly preoccupied with stamping out the heresy of "pseudo-science"-- a category that naturally includes such things as astrology.

This self-righteous posture might have been appropriate a century or two ago, as a reaction to the repression that the young field of science had to endure and overcome, but that is well behind us now. The fact is that our romance with science has ended and the marriage has begun. The crusade is long over and the infidels have been converted, but Sagan on his Quixotic quest seems oblivious to this, and so what is left for a knight to do but fight imaginary enemies or dragons. But before we add the name of Sagan to Sigurd and Siegfried, perhaps we should remember than no matter how many times the dragon was slain in the past, it always seemed to emerge somewhere else in another form, as various legends contributed to the gradual evolution of its features and character.

And just as every Eden or idyllic kingdom requires its dragon, so does the rational mind need its irrational unconscious. The more safe, sane, and sterile we make our world, the more we create the need for that which is dangerous, disruptive, and beyond our control. The dragon may be fictitious,but what it symbolizes is something real, something that is a part of human nature. Better to be accepted as such, then denied and made into something external that is fiercely suppressed until the day when, grown immense and unrecognizable, it suddenly rears its head, like the huge mushroom cloud rising above a leveled city.

Entropy and Alchemy: The Problem of Individuality in an Age of Society

I first read this book almost 3 decades ago when I was teaching Psychology, and it put things together like nothing I had found before. I would still recommend it today. Although more is known about evolution and neuroscience today (i.e., students should not cite this - or any 1986 book - as a definitive reference so many years later), it still makes complex evolutionary issues readable, entertaining, and accessible even for someone who doesn't have a background in the field, and is written at the level of the intelligent layman. I still regard this as one of the best books I ever read. If someone were to come to me and say they can't afford the time or cost of going to college or grad school, but want to get to the marrow without gnawing on the bone, this is one of the first books I would recommend, as it presents a wonderful "Big Picture" view, and the rich tapestry of Sagan's writing is a work of art that will be respected for generations. It will make sense of so many things that the reader will be wildly entertained, and end up with surprisingly sophisticated (and painless) general understanding of evolution and neurophysiology, without feeling like you are reading a dry textbook. It will help anyone who wants to better understand how any creature with a brain functions, and how different evolutionary conditions produced the hardware, how it evolved over time, and the principles that will affect the future evolution of all species. This book has my highest recommendation.

This book reveals many facinating new discoveries about the human brain. At the time of it's writing (1977) brain research was in a ferment. Many of the discoveries of that time still stand. Sagan's use of the english language makes it easy to read, and sometimes too easy. The reader might miss a key point.
The problem is Sagan's desire to turn recent brain science into a simplistic attempt to explain the origin of myth and religious feeling. This is in line with Sagan's own views on religion. Sagan carefully uses speculative language, which means he stands behind nothing in the book. Let the reader beware that Sagan has a philosophy to sell as well as science.

A sweeping view of human intellectual development and mind comparison. (Speaking of which: any readers of reviewer Kityty above ["Too Technical..."] will hope along with me that she will first learn her "Englixh" and then decide whether or not to take up "schechty" reviewing!). This book is a panoramic vista of what is known about human (and animal) brain geography and function, and it is written with the same multi-disciplinary knowledge that makes Cosmos so beautiful. I loved his compressed "Cosmic Calendar!"

Carl Sagan really does a great job of going step by step, through the brain, explaining the processes, and giving a clear understanding to the reader of how we can see the evolution of our brains from those of lowly worms, to fish, reptiles, mammals, and eventually us.
We are living proof of evolution. Carl Sagan is great at teaching us that. He is funny and interesting, makes his points clearly and concisely. He was (and continues to be) one of the greatest, most skilled popularizers of science ever, period. You'll laugh, you'll think, you'll talk about it with your friends. You will NOT be bored.
Reading this book really made me feel at one with science and myself -- the strange organic computer in my head which is my brain. I was overwhelmed. Even though this book was written over 20 years ago, Mr. Sagan speculates on theories that even now are being confirmed -- such as that structures inside the brain are responsible for spiritual or religious experiences or ecstasy. I knew it was true when I read it because I experienced this ecstasy while reading the book -- and it sure wasn't God pushing the buttons! Get this book!
On a last note, I also read Broca's Brain by Carl Sagan. It was a little more outdated and not quite as interesting. Much of the topic material is the same. You don't, therefore, need to read them both. Just get Dragons of Eden.

About nine years ago, in about an eight-month span, I read Cosmos, Demon-Haunted World, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Dragons of Eden, Pale Blue Dot, Contact, and Broca's Brain. That period of time changed my life forever. Recently, I decided to bring a more educated and critical mind to Dragons of Eden, and I now realize why I read it so fast the first time: lucid, thought-provoking ... this is the kind of book, if there is such a one, that you sprinkle salt on and gobble up in one bite.

Sagan was not anti-religion, he was pro-common sense. I challenge any intelligent, educated person to deny the essential truth of evolution after reading this (of course, the people who are most in need of reading this would never pick it up in the first place; Sagan, as they say, is preaching to the choir). He proceeds in his writing like he knows his general premise is correct (that humans DID evolve from lower life-forms) and he gently guides those who have doubts about evolution through valid arguments made simple, that appear to the critical and careful reader to be self-evident. But Dragons of Eden is not a polemic against creationism: in fact, the book is chock-full of biblical imagery and mythology, but is used for what should be its true purpose, to understand where humans have been, not where they are or are yet to go.

Brilliantly illustrated, the Dragons of Eden rewards all who read it with a sense of enlightenment. Only the segment on computer technology towards the end of the book seems dated (but humorously quaint). After 29 years, this is a stupendous feat! It just goes to show that in 1976, Sagan was so far ahead of nonscientists that we are still catching up to his vivid examples of the evolution of human intelligence.

I have two young children, my wife and I are full-time students, and we have been broke in both money and sleep for many years now. But Sagan, with this simple yet eloquent statement in Dragons of Eden, helps me cope: "The price we pay for anticipation of the future is anxiety about it." Amen, Mr. Sagan!

Easily one of my favorite books that I never get tired of reading, and I have been reading this and his other books since I was 10 years old. It seems that the kityty person is not intelligent enough to understand the concepts even as elucidated by one of the great thinkers and teachers of our time. I hope that my 5-star review brings the average up to negate the effect of that ignoramus below. What a disgrace to humanity. Perhaps she would be found in the lower right hand corner of the brain/body mass chart?

Of the 4 books I've read from Sagan, this is the second best (just after Cosmos). Everything seems so logical at reading it. I'm a Catholic, a real believer in God and evolution. Why must everyone try to make a fight between science and Religion, while they can shake hands? If I was given a brain, it was for me to use it and take the most out of it, otherwise, I would be a geocentrist non-thinker. It's a shame we had lost a liberal thinker and scientist as Dr. Sagan, he must be on better life now.

Very impressed with the postulation that the cranial mass does correlate significantly with the sucess of all species and more specifically with humans. Carl makes a very lively and yet a humble case, of why it is intelligence that is the hallmark of sapien success. He also makes a case that it is not just the bio-mass of grey matter alone, but the complexity of neural connections that constitute the fulcrum of dazzling dominance of sapiens. And he beautifully traces the roots of almost pre-determined success to times even before full evolution of humans has come to bear in the near past.

While this book is in many ways dated, it is also in many ways timeless. The ideas that Sagan presents are not only related to science and technology, but also spirituality and ideals. The scientific aspects of the book are dated, but of course they are. I found those areas of the book to be entertaining and nostalgic, particularly the section about the video game Pong. Still, aside from the retro appeal, the less tangible (less scientific) ideas are age-old, thought provoking, and I dare say, inspirational.

Yes, at times Sagan is not always as critical as he could (should?) be. That is not what this work is about. It is an open-ended exploration of ideas - one idea being the idea of the critical mind. This exploarion is not only based on facts, but also possibilities. Sagan speaks of the importance of utilizing both the left and right hemispheres of the human brain equally, and the cross-disciplinary discussions in The Dragons of Eden serve as a good example of the benefits of balanced thinking.

As is the usual, Sagan's sense of humor is subtle and always right on time.

absolutely fascinating, i read this book about 2 years ago, then read about 4 other sagan books. sagan is a scientist that somehow writes and philosophizes better than most writers and philosophers. i enjoy his books because he connects science with the question of human nature. i believe this book was written before much acceptence of universal grammar yet i see sagan hinting at it when he explains that a chimpanzee comes up with grammar on its own when it understands syntax. absolutely wonderfull book,especially for the money. i would reccomend it to anyone and everyone

I absoloutely love Carl Sagan's works and he was a brilliant man. I especially liked a Demon Haunted World, and Contact, and in flipping through Cosmos that looks very interesting too. This book is thought provoking, but is very technical because of the topic presented. It's not for everyone. But considering the complexity of human intelligence, it is pretty graspable. The critisism for this book would have to be that it is over 25 years old and dated and that he was much younger and i believe that as he got older his writing style changed and grew and his writing became less technical and easier to grasp but still intelligently written. Its amazing to read this book right after one of his later books and see the difference. He was a brilliant man.

Excuse me for using this as a reader Forum. Looking for an answer to this question. I was very impressed by Sagan's idea (?) that when we dream, we are in the reptile brain. But is there any evidence for this or was it just his speculation? I want to believe it because it explains my horrific violent dreams and absolves me from guilt. Please give links.

I think it may also explain "early morning anxiety" which seems to be a twilight zone of amplified worry that I and many others describe a "losing sleep over it". After I fully wake up and get up, my human brain kicks in an things are seen again in a perspective modified by higher rationale.

This book was a major turning point for me back in the early 90's. Actually caused me to "lose my religion" (New Age)

Not only entertaining, Sagan's work is informative. His genius writing style makes scientific technical writing accessible to practically anyone. Sagan's theories on the evolution of human intellgence are thought provoking; he has answers to many questions that are, for the most part, untouched. Once again, Sagan's brilliant mind has given us insight on a topic that effects the human race more than anything else, intelligence

I would recommend this book to anyone. There are many insights, especially about the intelligence of animals (chimpanzees, dolphins). Sagan's theories about the brain's 3 centers of control are also appealing. Considering the concepts presented, the book was easy to read.
My only reservation was the book's publication date. At over 20 years old, recent fossil discoveries and innovations such as PET scans of the brain are not covered.

Such an intelligent and thoughtful book. Carl Sagan knows how to write in away that is informing and entertaining at the same time. Should a shame that he has to pass so soon - he's definitely one of the pioneers of science in my opinion

Why is it that sometimes when you are just starting to fall asleep you "jerk" awake as if you were just about to fall - but you are safe in bed? This and other mysteries of the self are ruminated on in Carl Sagan's fascinating book, The Dragons of Eden. Yes it is a book about the evolution of the human brain, and it is informative. But is also really fun to read. Although non-fiction, you find yourself unable to put it down as the mystery unravels. Part facts, part speculation, part revelation, all intriguing. Not too difficult to read - Perfectly suitable for a summer afternoon.

When I first read The Dragons of Eden in 1980 I thought it was a fascinating piece of scientific speculation. On re-reading it in 2000 I found it to be somewhat dated. For example, in the chapter on dreams, Sagan cites two examples of creative thought supposedly inspired by dreams -- the chemist Kekule's dream of a snake biting its tail (which revealed the cyclic structure of benzene) and Coleridge's dream of the exotic east which prompted his poem "Kubla Khan." Both of these "dreams" have since been discredited. Researchers have shown that Kekule's dream never happened. His first reference to the incident mentioned a "musing" which he fell into while contemplating the problem of benzene's structure. Only much later did this musing turn into a dream, when he was making an inspirational speech to a group of chemistry students. Coleridge's dream is also a little suspect. He first wrote of "a sort of reverie brought on by opium." Only twenty years after writing the poem did he speak of a dream.
Although Sagan can be excused for not knowing all the facts concerning Kekule/benzene there are other times when he seems curiously uncritical. He countenances the idea that some individuals can remember their own birth, citing his son's earliest memory, "It was red and I was cold" as reflecting his delivery by caesarean section. No doubt some people do claim to remember their births. But some people also claim to remember former lives and abductions by aliens. I would have expected Sagan to have challenged his son's statement. Had the memory been planted? Could the boy have overheard his parents talking about the event?
Despite its occasional lapses, I would still recommend The Dragons of Eden for what it is -- scientific speculation, generally interesting and often thought provoking.

One of my all-time favorites, I actually read this book with, of all people, my Grandmother, who was at least equally enchanted by it.
The book is a fascinating account of the evolution of the human brain, and makes some powerful points about the ways in which our reptilian and other ancestors are still very much with us.

Eventhough it is true that this book was written a long time ago, its basic purpose which is to show that men can contruct their own reality when done through an uncompromised acceptance of the power of critical thinking and science, will in the end bring us closer to our true nature. His fantastic explanations about the nature of the brain are only a tool for that goal.

Sagan never lost his child-like wonder when describing the world around us. His writings are, for the most part, understandable and logical. We lost a great deal when he died, and I lost one of my favorite authors. A thought in one of his books stays with me: On a beach, pick up a handful of sand. You're holding roughly 2500 grains of sand, which is about how many stars you can see on a clear night. There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on all the beaches in the world.

While published in 1977 Carl Sagan's work on the origin of human intelligence will never get old or outdated. His insight really forces you to think about mankind and the development of our brains. He talks about our genes, the legends of Eden and the future evolution of us and our minds.

Sagan's gifted style of writing manages to take difficult topics and present them in a readable, fascinating, and thought provoking manner. Sagan's works should be required reading in any high school science class.

What a joke!! Waited longer than the 2 day Prime delivery time. The actual book is not much bigger than the little picture on you computer screen. I had the original, but was stolen. Was hoping to replace my missing volume with this. If this was for a Cracker Jack collection,it would be perfect. I received a hard cover paperback. Poor printing quality, poor paper stock, illustrations and photos suck, all and all..... junk. I will read it tonight too see how badly it has been edited.

What drew my attention to this fantastic book is that each chapter Dr. Sagan delivered us a complete chunk of knowledge about brain functioning. The information came in layers using a precise and simple vocabulary turnning this book in a real delight. The book credibility came from Sagan's writting style showing us clearly the difference between his opinions and science facts. After reading it you'll look to humans and beasts with a different perspective. Keep this book intact, you'll consult it constantly!

A friend gave me this book. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down until I'd read it cover to cover . It really is one of the best books I've ever read. Needless to say, this book will stay in my book collecton till the day I die.

I really miss him. Just picture it: Carl Sagan debating the climate crisis... or the Iraqui war... Well, this book shows his caractheristic polimatic veiw of knowledge: not separated boxes and disciplines, but a way of thinking, using both, creativity and skepticism to approach nature in its most complex subject: the human self, the misteries and intricacies of our brains and the resulting mind states, wich some call "mind", Sagan and Druyan at its best.

I have read this book nearly 30 years after it been written and, though likely Science has gone forward, I feel that it is still valid, and that Carl Sagan has always been a great popularizer.
You shouldn't miss "The Demon Haunted World", another must-have.

Read a long time ago in college. Very interesting and in my opinion reads easier than Cosmos and is better than the Demon Haunted World. Great study and comparison of human and reptile brains. As an aside, the villian in the Michael Cain movie "The Island" can be seen reading this.

I started The Dragons of Eden reluctantly, thinking that the material might be outdated. I was very pleasantly surprised. Some things were outdated, but Sagan (perhaps deliberately) did not embrace these ideas fully. Instead, he created a book full of wonderful and lucid speculation, deep insights, and a message about our place in the universe. It is most highly recommended.

I love love loved this book. Some might think its dry, but I love the way he writes, simple, but verbosive enough to make interesting. He always makes a point and backs it up, most of the book is evolution of the human brain, and proved highly insightful, and told me some stuff I never even thought of. If you love learning, defently get this book.

This book offers the non-technical reader a good overview of the functions of the different sections of the brain, alongside their evolutionary information. Through interesting examples, well researched data, and simple diagrams Sagen explains how our brain works, and speculates on how it might evolve in the future.

This is a great book to read. A lot of it is speculation. The decision is left up to the reader. Learned a lot of things about evolution in general. I'd say it's definitely a must read if your a biology fan.

This is the most compelling, inspiring book I have ever read. The manner in which it stimulates your thinking is stunning.
It's the only book I have ever read twice. I may even give it a third look one of these days. It is a must read before you die.

This book was a joy to read, but it must definately be taken with a grain of salt. In attempting to justify a long evolution of the human psyche, Sagen credits our fear of snakes with the struggle between humans and dinosaurs and our fascination with the skies with our time spent in the treetops - a bit farfetched, I think. Some of the tidbits thrown in - that humans are the only animals who experience pain in childbirth, for instance - are completely fabricated. Yet I would still recommend this book, for the science presented is made fascinating by the surrounding speculation.

i read this book as an attempt to see things from a different perspective than my own. my perspective has changed in regard to this book. there are a few outdated things, but other than that, it's a classic

Carl Sagan is a Thinker - an Intellectual who knows no bound in Expressing his views, his message might be conflicting with well known standard norms but we have every reason to think and see things the way they are.

E

In The Dragons of Eden, author Carl Sagan depicts a world in which evolutionism reigns and earth's creatures develop in a mock "year" from single-celled organisms to the complex man prevalent today. First published in 1977, the information provided in the book, captioned "Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence," still remains an apparent encyclopedia for the scholar of man's development. Much of the book includes technological references, which, because of its age, are now obsolete; however, it still serves as a factual, thought-provoking reference with which one better comprehends the spawn of life on earth.
As a seasoned scientist, Sagan's vast knowledge in the field of science is clear through a study of his books. Though he became famous through his work with NASA, his entire bibliographical record consists of topics about space, nuclear winters, extraterrestrial life, and the history of man specifically. The Dragons of Eden is just one example of his outstanding literary résumé. Similar authors like William Poundstone and Stephen Jay Gould are known for their study of the mathematical, philosophical, and historical aspects of science, but none come close to Sagan's highly regarded reputation and thorough knowledge of the entire scientific field.
The genre of scientific novels appeal to a wide range of people, from scientists to lay men and women interested in the field. In spite of this, The Dragons of Eden seems to require a prior scientific knowledge if the reader intends on grasping some of the concepts addressed in the book. For instance, Sagan says, "the largest taxonomic divisions distinguish between plants and animals, or between those organisms with poorly developed nuclei in their cells (such as bacteria and blue-green algae) and those with very clearly demarcated and elaborately architectured nuclei (such as protozoa or people)." It is obvious that Sagan attempts to explain some of the material with the information inside the parentheses, but much of it is left unclear to the amateur reader. The scientific information Sagan proposes in this book far outweighs its literary aspect; it is more of an assemblage of experiments and scientific fact than appealing, interesting ideas that bring about fascinating new concepts.
As a scientific novel, the book, by definition, should produce new and thought provoking philosophies. The majority of the book, though, only focuses on the factual side of the concept of evolution. Nevertheless, a few examples and analogies are creative and interesting, like chapter five's focus on the study of chimpanzees and their use of man-made language. Rather than "throwing" scientific fact at the reader, Sagan provides an unusual and fascinating study that better explains the material he presented.
In Sagan's book, he scientifically develops the issue of evolution thoroughly and effectively without bringing in the contrasting viewpoint, creationism. Though the book concentrates on evolution, dispelling the opposing ideas of creation would have strengthened his argument and better convinced his reader to realize the true conception of man.

In order to appreciate and perceive the evolution of life on earth, Sagan's The Dragons of Eden is a perfect novel to examine. Every human being should have a great knowledge of his or her ancestry over the millions of years since homo sapiens evolved, and this book is a prime resource with which to do so. Though some scientific material may be foreign to the untrained reader, the book as a whole is a brilliant blueprint for the history of life.

first of all, i'm not under 13, its just easier to write comment through the kid section .

The book is VERY good, but don't expect to read it in one sitting. I could never read it for longer than 15, but that's just me and don't let that deter you from your purchase. ummmm...yea, mi favoria was capitulo uno (haaa ha i luuuurve spanish), anyways, thats the 1st chapter. and yea thats about it cuz i dont feel like typing

Sagan certainly is a deep thinker and a thoughtful writer. However, as one would expect, this reviewer challenges the basic supposition of the work, that evolution is a scientific fact.
To many, his statement on pg. 6 is patently personal opinion, amply demostrated to be untenable, even in scientific circles: "Evolution is a fact amply demonstrated by the fossil record and by contemporary molecular biology. Natural selection is a successful theory devised to explain the fact of evolution."
There is no ample fossil record, and contemporary molecular biology itself provides reasonable doubts at to any evolution, e.g. Behe's "Darwin's Black Box." This is tragic when competent scientists such as Sagan change personal model choice of world origins into scientific fact. This cannot be demonstrated.
Even more recent evolutionists such as Gould agree.
Jumping off this given, Sagan then speculates how the human brain has and is evolving. Much interesting and useful observations from inquiry into the human mind is good reading however. Taken with a filter of truth, this book provides for such a good read.

Oh my gosh. everyone should TOTALLY read this book. it will give you informative info on all your life questions. i read this book in less than 24 hours and SO CAN YOU! wanna know about dinosaurs and cool aliens? well then DEFINITELY read this book. instead of going to the beach, i stayed in and read this truly intriguing book. oh wow. im such a good student! YOU can be just like me if you read this Carl Sagan dragon junk book. At first you might be discouraged because its REALLY BORING, but if you're into all that space stuff then you'll really like it. my friend OLGA recommended it to me and we just love sharing our thoughts over a nice hot cup of coffee, while checking out the other book worms. anyways be RAD like me and read some carl sagan today!

What I like about THE DRAGONS OF EDEN is the way Carl Sagan relates to the lay person about evolution of the human species. Carl Sagan takes rigid science and puts life and poetry to the descriptions.

Outdated. I suspect inaccurate in many ways. Takes just under an hour to read this book from cover to cover. I don't understand the love affair these reviewers all have for Sagan. Are they all paid to leave 5 stars? Billions and billions of fake reviews...Don't waste your money.