 Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, whatever the case may be. Folks, I find it difficult to believe that Dr. Carl Sagan has been dead now for some thirteen years. I'm reminded of him just about every time I open a book, access an internet site, or discuss scientific matters with colleagues. He's been in my mind recently because of the heavy attrition rate of my friends. My heroes are all passing away. Isaac Asimov, Dick Feynman, and so many who've inspired and encouraged me over the years. Carl was very much aware of the need for science education for everyone, not because he expected that everyone would become a scientist, but because he felt that every citizen should know, at least to some degree, how the real world functions. I couldn't agree more. In my own work, I daily come upon persons who have no knowledge whatsoever about the simplest of scientific ideas, and even less about the technology that has resulted from science. They adopt mystical ideas to explain what they experience, and that naivete makes them easy prey for others who can and will take advantage of them. Years ago, while working with Dr. Sagan briefly at Cornell University on a course titled Critical Thinking, I commented on the high percentage of Asian students that I could see were on campus. Carl told me that the greatest distinction he had found between Western and Asian students was that many of the Western students were satisfied to work for a passing grade in their classes, but the Asians expected that they should obtain perfect grades, not just satisfactory ones. That is an excellent work ethic, and it should be preached to every student, in my opinion. In his book, The Demon Haunted World, Carl expressed how important an education is in today's civilization. He wrote, We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements, transportation, communications, and all other industries, agriculture, medicine, education, entertainment, and protecting the environment profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later, this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces. We in America, 300 years ago, to our great shame, underwent a period in which we blamed innocent individuals we called witches for troubles and calamities, choosing to believe that these persons, mostly women, used supernatural powers to cause these problems. We hanged these innocent citizens at the same time that our brothers in England, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain were burning them alive as punishment. Carl Sagan pointed out that in those earlier times, there were reasons for fear and superstition, reasons that should not be part of our mindset. Again, in The Demon Haunted World, in 1995, he wrote, I worry that, especially as the millennium nears, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us. Then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters, its little pool of light trembles, darkness gathers, the demons begin to stir. I cannot tell you how much those words of Dr. Sagan have affected me. In a manner far more eloquent than I could ever have managed, he expressed my thoughts, and I hope that you, being able to experience his writings, will also feel that he spoke for you. I sincerely hope so. The message of this great man cannot grow old. We must recognize that despite our becoming more mature, more rapidly, in so many ways, we must be always vigilant. It's been said before. To forget history is to be forced to relive its errors. These demons of which Carl spoke are still out there, somewhere, waiting for their opportunity. We cannot allow them to come back to life. Our greatest enemy by far is ignorance. We have the weapons to defeat it, and we are increasingly able to do so. Teachers of the quality of Carl Sagan exist in every culture and every city and village, in every school and home, all over this planet that we call home. To nourish those teachers, to encourage them, to assist and support them, should be one of our greatest, our most important goals. When all people are armed with knowledge and can organize to oppose and banish hunger, poverty, disease, distress, and discouragement, those elements cannot flourish, and those are the demons of which Carl Sagan wrote and spoke. I'll leave you with this short tale. Some years ago, I was seated in my office, reading on my computer screen with great amusement, a joke about astronomy that had appeared on the internet. I laughed and suddenly froze, looking at my left hand, which had begun to reach for the telephone. Folks, I had been about to call Carl and tell him about this amusing story. Well, I have absolutely no belief in an afterlife. Like Carl Sagan, I am a realist. But if it were possible to survive this life, and if Carl had been able to do that, I'm sure that he would now be out there in the cosmos. He so loved and respected chasing an interesting comet or testing the temperature of a galaxy. Because his work survives them and we can enjoy it, learn from it, and most importantly, add to it, I can feel Carl Sagan was many things, but his greatest accomplishment, in my opinion, was that he could teach. He did it painlessly, convincingly, provocatively. He not only knew his subjects, but he loved them in the classic way that all great teachers have followed. He had a firm, modulated voice and a superb manner of expressing his thoughts, a manner that was both poetic and colorful. He could be understood by anyone who would read his words. I'm James Randy. Thank you, and thank you too, Carl. We thank you for watching this latest episode of James Randy Speaks. For more of James Randy and the Educational Foundation, make sure you visit randy.org.