Death: December 20, 1996
Comments: Carl Sagan was an astrophysicist and author and a dedicated advocate of science education. He was raised in new York by mostly secular Jewish parents, and spent his youth taking advantage of the New York Public libraries, planetariums, and museums, stuffing his mind with as much knowledge about the world as he could. After graduating from high school, Sagan attended the University of Chicago, earning a B.A., a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. He briefly taught at Harvard before settling into a position as a professor at Cornell University, a post which he held until his untimely death. Sagan was also a long time adviser for NASA, contributing to the Apollo program and numerous robotic missions including Mariner, Viking, Pioneer, and Voyager.
His Cosmos series aired when I was eleven, a year in which I happened to be living in the United States, and the introduction that thirteen part series gave to the true majesty of the scientific view of the universe has stayed with me my entire life. Not only did he kindle in me a love for science, but his reference to Edgar Rice Burrough's A Princess of Mars in "Blues for a Red Planet" caused me to seek out and read about the Barsoomian adventures of John Carter. In addition to the Cosmos series, Sagan wrote hundreds of papers, and numerous books. Because I knew he was a professor there, I applied to Cornell University (I was not accepted). Because I knew he had studied and and earned his Ph.D. there, I applied to the University of Chicago (once again, I was not accepted). I write this blog, in part, because of Sagan.
Ann Druyan maintains a website devoted to promoting Sagan's works and science education in general called The Carl Sagan Portal.
My reviews of Carl Sagan's books:
Other books by Carl Sagan that I have read but not reviewed:
Broca's Brain
Comet (with Ann Druyan)
Cosmos
Contact
The Dragons of Eden
Videos:
The Backbone of Night
Consider Again That Pale Blue Dot
The Gift of Apollo
A Universe Not Made for Us
Wanderers
Musical Monday:
01/24/11: The Big Beginning
10/25/10: The Case for Mars
09/20/10: The Glorious Dawn
09/27/10: The Unbroken Thread
11/01/10: A Wave of Reason
11/22/10: We Are All Connected
Related Posts:
Cosmos by Vangelis
Earth
Authors - S Authors A-Z Home
No comments:
Post a Comment