Dusting my bookshelves is always a hazard because I end up with my nose in a favorite book and lose interest in the cleanup.

Yesterday was no exception. The paragraphs I read again reminded me of how much I appreciate the wisdom of Carl Sagan. He was correct when he said that people have a natural appetite for the wonders of the universe but few know anything about how science works.

When does the human mind stop questioning "facts" that are mentioned in passing as if they were known scientific phenomena? The movement of killer bees northward from Mexico caught the attention of a young boy. Somehow he picked up the 'fact' that the killer bees were migrating with Monarch butterflies and insisted that we must kill the butterflies to prevent an invasion of a monstrous species.

He had some real history. African killer bees were crossed with honey bees to develop a better honey-producing species more resistant to disease and adaptable to adverse weather. "They make really, really sweet honey."

How those facts got transferred into the obscene notion that the swarms of bees follow the migrating butterflies is a mystery to me, but he was convinced. He continued to insist that the beautiful Monarch butterflies were villains totally responsible for the invasion of the killer bees and should be destroyed. He absorbed that information without question.

Like Carl Sagan, I understand that science cannot make progress unless people question facts; only the truth will set us free.