Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

This is a book everyone should read. It looks at life on earth from a cosmic perspective and emphasizes our commonality rather than our differences. With an emphasis on scientific thinking, it makes a case for evidence vs. opinion and the importance of facts.

I got this as a first reads right before I moved and it sat in my old house for a year, but I finally got around to reading it. Tyson is a good writer even if he's a bit smug sometimes. But he's also smug in a way I generally agree with, so overall I enjoyed the volume. I think I was hoping for a bit more "cosmic" from the title when the key word is actually "perspective." He does a wonderful job of parsing higher level statistical thinking for a lay audience. Sadly, I'm not the person who needs to read this book, and most of the people who do need to read it, won't. But if you want to hear Tyson's voice in your head narrating thoughtful essays on humans and their place on earth and in the cosmos, it's worth a read.