Carl Sagan
From RationalWiki
Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996) was an American astronomer who did much to popularize science, especially astronomy ("billions and billions!"), during his illustrious career. He co-wrote and presented Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, a television series that kicked ass. Sagan was a committed atheist, though his true legacy lies in his advancement of humanism. He found a profound spirituality in experiencing the wonder and majesty of the universe.
He is known for remarking how people were made of "star stuff". And, by the by, he was right:
H → He → Li → Be → B → C (yum!) → N → O → F, and on through various nuclear processes that synthesize the elements up through iron (Fe) -- and it takes a supernova (or a particle accelerator!) to make a heavier nucleus.
Sagan was also very interested in extra-terrestrial life, including UFO sightings (though he was a skeptic on the matter), he heavily promoted the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Proof that an overbite and turtlenecks don't have to be drawbacks!
As a prominent atheist who has recently died, Carl Sagan is said by many fundamentalists to have converted to Christianity on his death-bed, the testimony of his widow notwithstanding. This is a cowardly attack because they know Dr. Sagan can't come back to make a refutation.
A recent development is the celebration of "Carl Sagan Day", which is celebrated on his birthday, November 7th. The first celebration of the event, in 2009, is to be attended by James Randi and Phil Plait as guest speakers.[1]
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[edit] Biography
Carl Sagan was a leader in the American space program from its earliest stages. He briefed the Apollo astronauts before the Moon missions and played an instrumental role in the planning and operation of the Viking, Voyager, Mariner, and Galileo space probes.[2] He was also a prolific author and popularizer of science, creating the 13-part TV series Cosmos (the most widely watched PBS program in the world), appearing on late-night television numerous times, and writing "Contact," "Pale Blue Dot," "Billions and Billions," and many other books. He married three times, the third time to Ann Druyan, his occasional co-author. He died in 1996 at the age of 62 after a prolonged battle with cancer, survived by Druyan and five children.
[edit] Cannabis use
Carl Sagan was a huge advocate of the sticky herb,[3] crediting it with inspiring many of his best works, in addition to improving food, sex, and music. Oddly enough, Conservapedia's cheap hit piece makes no mention of this.
[edit] Apple Computer
In the 1990s, Apple Computer named its internal projects after famous astronomers, Copernicus, Sagan, and so on. These code names appeared from time to time in the trade press.
In 1994, when Carl Sagan discovered his name was used by Apple on the model that would become the 7100, he sued, claiming defamation and wrongful use of his name for commercial purposes. The judge, reasonably, dismissed the suit, stating that Apple had honored him in selecting his name, and since these were not the actual product names, nor released to the general public.
In the meantime, Apple renamed the project BHA. Sagan sued Apple again (and lost), this time for libel. It turns out BHA stood for 'butt-head astronomer'.[4]
[edit] Quotes
- "For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."
- "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. "
- "Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others, if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out."
- "But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
- "Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works."
- "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere"
Perhaps his most famous and enduring quote is
- "The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves we will one day venture to the stars"
[edit] Bibliography
- Planets (LIFE Science Library), Sagan, Carl, Jonathon Norton Leonard and editors of Life, Time, Inc., 1966
- Intelligent Life in the Universe, I.S. Shklovskii coauthor, Random House, 1966, 509 pgs
- UFO's: A Scientific Debate, Thornton Page coauthor, Cornell University Press, 1972, 310 pgs
- Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. MIT Press, 1973, 428 pgs
- Mars and the Mind of Man, Sagan, Carl, et al., Harper & Row, 1973, 143 pgs
- Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective, Jerome Agel coauthor, Anchor Press, 1973, ISBN 0-521-78303-8, 301 pgs
- Other Worlds. Bantam Books, 1975
- Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record, Sagan, Carl, et al., Random House, ISBN 0-394-41047-5, 1978
- The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. Ballantine Books, 1978, ISBN 0-345-34629-7, 288 pgs
- Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. Ballantine Books, 1979, ISBN 0-345-33689-5, 416 pgs
- Cosmos. Random house, 1980. Random House New Edition, May 7, 2002 ISBN 0-375-50832-5, 384 pgs
- The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War, Sagan, Carl et al., Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985
- Comet, Ann Druyan coauthor, Ballantine Books, 1985, ISBN 0-345-41222-2, 496 pgs
- Contact. Simon and Schuster, 1985; Reissued August 1997 by Doubleday Books, ISBN 1-56865-424-3, 352 pgs
- The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, Ann Druyan editor, 1985 Gifford lectures, Penguin Press, 2006, ISBN 1-59420-107-2, 304 pgs
- A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race, Richard Turco coauthor, Random House, 1990, ISBN 0-394-58307-8, 499 pgs
- Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are, Ann Druyan Coauthor, Ballantine Books, October 1993, ISBN 0-345-38472-5, 528 pgs
- Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. Random House, November 1994, ISBN 0-679-43841-6, 429 pgs
- The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books, March 1996, ISBN 0-345-40946-9, 480 pgs (note: the book was first published and copyrighted in 1995 with an errata slip inserted)
- Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium, Ann Druyan coauthor, Ballantine Books, June 1997, ISBN 0-345-37918-7, 320 pgs
- The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, Carl Sagan (writer) & Ann Druyan (editor), Penguin Press HC, November 2006, ISBN 1594201072, 304 pgs
