Richard Eberhart
American poet
Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and science communicator. He is best known for his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, as well as his popular science books and the award-winning TV series Cosmos. Sagan was a passionate advocate of scientific inquiry and the search for intelligent life beyond Earth.
Table of Contents
About the Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Saganwas an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by exposure to light. He assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. He argued in favor of the hypothesis, which has since been accepted, that the high surface temperatures of Venus are the result of the greenhouse effect.
Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell University, where he spent most of his career. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of Eden, Broca’s Brain, Pale Blue Dot and The Demon-Haunted World. He also co-wrote and narrated the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which became the most widely watched series in the history of American public television: Cosmos has been seen by at least 500 million people in 60 countries. A book, also called Cosmos, was published to accompany the series. Sagan also wrote a science-fiction novel, published in 1985, called Contact, which became the basis for the 1997 film Contact. His papers, comprising 595,000 items, are archived in the Library of Congress.
Sagan was a popular public advocate of skeptical scientific inquiry and the scientific method; he pioneered the field of exobiology and promoted the search for extraterrestrial intelligent lifetwo Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award. He married three times and had five children. After developing myelodysplasia, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62 on December 20, 1996.
Frequently Asked Questions
Carl Sagan’s best known scientific contribution was his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including the experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by exposure to light.
Carl Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them.
Carl Sagan argued in favor of the hypothesis, which has since been accepted, that the high surface temperatures of Venus are the result of the greenhouse effect.
Carl Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, and awards for his TV series Cosmos, such as two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award.
Carl Sagan wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of Eden, Broca’s Brain, Pale Blue Dot, and The Demon-Haunted World.
Carl Sagan spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies.
After developing myelodysplasia, Carl Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62 on December 20, 1996.
24 Quotes by Carl Sagan
- 1.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 2.
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 3.
The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 4.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 5.
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 6.
All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 7.
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.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 8.
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 9.
When you make the finding yourself – even if you’re the last person on Earth to see the light – you’ll never forget it.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 10.
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 11.
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 12.
We’ve arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 13.
Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 14.
The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 15.
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 16.
I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set at night, or even that the Sun is a star.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 17.
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 18.
We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 19.
For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 20.
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 21.
I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 22.
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.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 23.
The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent.
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)
- 24.
If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?
Carl SaganAmerican astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934-1996)