Carl Sagan’s “Why We Need to Understand Science”

In the essay “Why We Need to Understand Science,” Carl Sagan exposes a lot of alarming truths about America’s level of scientific education; he explains that people are not educated enough in the sciences, the real sciences that is. He opposes the argument that is against more science education and explains the importance and the benefits of science; he reveals just how instrumental the sciences have been for the world. As essential as this type of knowledge is for the world, Sagan continues to inform the reader just how poorly educated our country is. The reason for this awful outcome has a lot to do with the country’s priorities. Americans don’t realize just how important it is for people to be highly educated in the sciences, and they don’t know exactly how to change course for our future. So Sagan proposes several ideas for what will hopefully help get this country on the right track.

Carl Sagan is very passionate about the controversial topic of more scientific education; being an astronomer and astrophysicists, Sagan has very strong views on the fight for more science education. In addition to being very scientifically inclined, Sagan also proves to be a well rounded person when it comes to academia and personal principles. He is also a talented writer who tries to work towards making science more acknowledged and appealing to the public. He uses his credibility to convince people that having the masses so uneducated in science “is a clear prescription for disaster.” People are so uninformed and ignorant about science and technology, yet most everybody has become extremely dependent on them. Sagan gives a solid argument by not denying the potential danger in science, and instead by forming a counter argument. He points out all the good that has been, and can be, done with science. And Sagan does not claim that people need to become more educated in just scientific facts, the focus should go more towards the way of thinking and the thought process that goes into using facts to think of a possible and realistic reason for an outcome.

Sagan continues his argument with loads of facts and statistics that reveal the shocking academic standing America is in. America is falling way behind in science and math in relation to other countries, and Sagan supposes that the reason for it is that the country does not put enough emphasis on education in the sciences. People don’t seem to understand just how poor our country is doing in this area, and so Sagan finalizes his argument with possible solutions to the problem. He believes that adults need to give more encouragement to children to ask thought provoking questions, and give them the tools that will help them to actually work towards finding the answers in the future.

The video based off of Carl Sagan’s book “Pale Blue Dot” sends the message that every person, no matter where they came from, what they went through, or how they lived their life, have something in common with each other, they all have the same home. It puts the world into perspective, and makes the earth seem absolutely amazing. How could someone not be interested in knowing all of its secrets? He makes you want to learn more about the mysterious and amazing place that we call home.