tnitcrrestrial intelligence, and the notoriousrnnuelear w inter seare of a few yearsrnback. Sagan also includes religion—especialh”rnChristianity—which he smearsrnrather than attacks by a clever method ofrnguilt-b”-association. Ilis discussion ofrnreligion is immediately linked to thernwitch-hunting craze of the 16th century,rnon which he spends a significant part ofrnhis book. He describes the methods ofrntorture and the interrogation process,rnand c^uotcs from Catholic and Protestantrnauthorities. Sagan’s devotion to the poorrnwitches, some of whom like Joan of Arcrnwere burned at the stake, is remarkable.rnBut are there no examples of cruelty inrnthe 20th eentur for Sagan to write aboutrnat such length and in such detail?rnSagan’s attacks on religion, which mightrnhac been written by Mark “l\ain, TomrnPaine, or Robert Ingersoll, are pervadedrnby the musty odor of 18th- and 19thcenturyrnatheism.rnThese men, however, wrote far morernintelligcnth’ and forthrighth than Sagan,rnwho has dramatized his own scicntism inrna PBS series which dumbed down astronomicalrnscience to the point that the onlyrnmemorable phrase from it is “billionsrnand billions.” Sagan skates on the surfacernof significant issues, glibly reducingrnthe anxieties of the human heart to hormonalrnimbalances, mankind’s search forrntranscendence to a remembrance ofrnchildhood fears, and the conflict betweenrnfaith and reason to a sort of intellectualrnwrestling match between “science”rnand “anti-science.” But even onrnthis N’ulgar level, too much has happenedrnin the 20th century for Sagan’s scientificrntriumphalism to be credible, so that inconvenientrnfacts are either mentionedrnonly in passing or not mentioned at all.rnFor example, Sagan’s treatment of Einstein’srnTheory of Relativity neglects tornmention that the chief proponent of thernabsoluteness of time and space was notrnsome Medieval monk but Isaac Newton,rnand that it was not Edward Teller (whornappears to be one of Sagan’s chiefrndemons) but President Eisenhower whornwas responsible for removing Robert Oppenheimerrnas an advisor on atomic policyrnto the federal government.rnIn the end, Sagan is promoting arnmeretricious account of science that isrnmore a schoolboy history of the worldrnthan it is a defense and justification ofrnscientific discipline.rnJohn Caiazza writes from Medford,rnMassachusetts.rnThe Story of Lovernby William MillsrnI’he Double Flame:rnLove and Eroticismrnhy Octario Pa:rnNew York: Uarcoiirt Brace;rn276 pp., $22.00rnOctavio Paz, who was 82 when hernwrote this book, asks in his preface,rn”Wasn’t it a little ridiculous, at the endrnof my das, to write a book about love?”rnThe answer is a resounding “no.” Therntext is densely rich with ideas, elegant inrnstyle, and the ruminations are very wise.rnPaz ends the short preface noting, “Thernoriginal, primordial fire, sexuality, raisesrnthe red flame of eroticism, and this inrnturn raises and feeds another flame,rntremulous and blue; the flame of love.”rnI lis endeavor in ‘The Double Flame is onernof differentiation, and amplification.rnAnimals always copulate in the samernway, whereas humans, though copulating,rntransform the act into somethingrnelse besides. Phis transformation is effectedrnthrough invention, variation, thernimagination. Eroticism is exclusively human,rnwhich reflects another differencernbetween our species and other animals:rnan insatiable sexual thirst. Wc do notrnhave periods of rut followed by sexualrndormancy. We are the only living creaturesrnwithout an automatic regulator (althoughrnI might suggest investigatorsrnconsider the headache or prolonged tele-rnision watching). The msatiabilit)’ of humanrnsexual desire has its bad as well as itsrngood aspects, since, while it leads to procreationrnand to the continuation of thernspecies and societv’, it is also highly subversivernin its effects. “It ignores classesrnand hierarchies, arts and sciences, dayrnand night…. It is a volcano and am onernof its eruptions can bury society under arnviolent flow of blood.” Every society hasrnprohibitions regulating the sexual instinct.rn”Without them the family wouldrndisintegrate and with it all of society.rnThe human race, subjected to the perpetualrnelectrical discharge of sex, has in-rnHelp Us Fight To SavernOur American Heritage!rnSouthern heritage is a part of American heritage butrn”civil rights” groups want to remove ALL Confederate symbolsrnfrom public property. Join HPA today and help us fightrnpolitical correctness and cultural bigotry against the South.rnHeritage Preservation AssociationrnHPA is a nonprofit, national membership organization that utilizesrneducational resources along with political and legal action to protectrnSouthern symbols, Southern history, and Southern culture.rnAnnual dues of $39.95 include: HPA membershiprncard, bi’monthly newsletter, quarterly reports, *.rnConfederate Shopper’s Club^’^’ and the Heritage-BBSrncomputer systeiTi. Mention this ad to save 10%rn(VISA, Mastercard, AMEX)rnTo join by phone or request free information, callrn800’86’DIXIErnHPA • P.O. Box 98209 • Atlanta, GA 30359rn(404) 928-2714 • Fax (404) 928-2719rnSEPTEMBER 1996/27rnrnrn