Cosmos

It might be surprising to learn that Cosmos—a comprehensive text about how science has led to a greater understanding of the Earth and worlds beyond—is also very concerned with how various religions view of this world, which may not turn out to be the only one to support life. Interestingly, many faiths echo some of the discoveries made by scientific exploration over the last millennia. Each Cosmos chapter begins with quotations from some of the most significant religious texts from many traditions, including the Bible, the Popol Vuh from Mayan culture, the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, and the Chinese philosophical tract Tao Te Ching—not to mention many literary traditions. As the author takes his audience on an interstellar voyage, he also takes them on a journey through the evolution of scientific inquiry and religious understanding—and how these two very different enterprises can actually work together to create a more expansive view of the universe.

The importance of religion becomes immediately clear. The author sees religious belief as the repository of human culture, which Sagan identifies as necessarily unified when viewed through a cosmic lens: “we are one species” (332), the only intelligent one that can