''The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God'' is a book collecting transcribed talks on the subject of

natural theology Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics (such as the existence of a deity) based on reason and the discoveries of science. This distinguishes it from ...

that astronomer

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

delivered in 1985 at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

as part of the Gifford Lectures.The Varieties of Scientific Experience: Carl Sagan on Science and Spirituality, Brain Pickings
/ref> The book was first published posthumously in 2006, 10 years after his death. The title is a reference to '' The Varieties of Religious Experience'' by

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

. The book was edited by

Ann Druyan Ann Druyan ( ; born June 13, 1949) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co-wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series ''Cosmos'', hosted by Carl Sagan, w ...

, who also provided an introduction section. The sixth chapter, "The God Hypothesis", was later reprinted in Christopher Hitchens' anthology ''

The Portable Atheist ''The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever'' (2007) is an anthology of atheist and agnostic thought edited by Christopher Hitchens. Going back to the early Greeks, Hitchens introduces selected essays of past and present philo ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varieties of Scientific Experience, The 2006 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Books critical of religion Books published posthumously Penguin Books books Science books Works by Carl Sagan