Chapter 3, The Great Demotions, Chapter 4, A Universe Not Made For Us Summary and Analysis

Sagan calls the "Great Demotions" moments in scientific history that downgraded humanity's place in the universe. Galileo helped to show that the Earth was not the only "world" along with it not being the center of the universe, bringing about another great demotion. Other great demotions have occurred, however, such as our discovery that we do not live in the only galaxy, or that our galaxy is not at the center of the universe or that no other star has planets. Today we have even discovered planets orbiting other stars.

The fundamentalist monotheisms want the universe to be only 6,000 years old, but this raises the awkward question of why there are objects more than 6,000 light-years away. Saga realizes that God may...