Play it again

John Boswell, the madly brilliant sound-chemist who Auto-Tuned his way into our hearts with “A Glorious Dawn” featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, has launched the laud-worthy project “Symphony of Science” which is “designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.” You couldn’t ask for a better goal than that.

-- Chris Hardwick, Nerdist

Sagan Mashup

via ajboyer on Twitter.

Celebrating Sagan is now on Twitter. Follow us here for more Sagan related news.

Sounds of Earth

Probably the most humanizing and often talked about aspects of Voyager is the Golden Record... humanity's message to the unknown. Here you can listen to just a few of NASA's original recordings that were featured on the record.

For more on the Golden Record, check out this post from 2006.

from the New York Times, August 20, 1977

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug. 19--The Voyager spacecraft scheduled for launching tomorrow to scout Jupiter, Saturn, and possibly Uranus will be carrying a message from Earth on the off chance that extraterrestrial beings will come upon the craft centuries from now, somewhere on its endless journey beyond the solar system.

The message is in the form of a recoding, called "Sounds of Earth." It is a 12 inch copper phonograph record inserted in an aluminum protective jacket that is attached to the outside of the 1,820 pound spacecraft.

Dr. Carl Sagan, the Cornell University astronomer who conceived the idea, calls the recorded message a "bottle cast into the cosmic ocean."

Languages and Nature

Inscribed on the record are nearly two hours of greetings in dozens of human languages, samples of music of various cultures and times, natural sounds such as the wind and surf and animals and birds, and a message from President Carter.

All preparations were reported to be running smoothly for the launching at 10:25 A.M. tomorrow at the Kennedy Space Center here. The spacecraft, called Voyager 2 even though it is to be the first of the two craft to be launched in the Voyager program, is to

be blasted into its interplanetary course by a Titan 3E Centaur rocket.

George F. Page, the director of the mission launching operations at the space center, said today that "everything is proceeding right on time" and that the forecast was good launching weather.

Voyager2, equipped with television cameras and scientific instruments, is to fly by Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981 and, if all continues to go well, Uranus in 1986. An identical spacecraft, Voyager 1, scheduled for launching Sept. 1, is to explore Jupiter and Saturn. The missions call for the most far-ranging reconnaissance of the outer solar system thus far.

'A Very Big Step'

At a news conference today, Dr. Edward C. Stone, the project scientist from the California Institute of Technology, described the Voyager missions as "a very big step in extending our ability to observe our surroundings and the solar system."

The $400 million project has been five years in preparation, directed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Pasadena, Calif. The idea of attaching a phonograph message to the space vehicle was an afterthought.

The messages on the record were designed to enable possible extraterrestrial civilizations that might intercept the spacecraft millions of years hence to put together some picture of 20th century Earth and its inhabitants. The record runs about two hours.

The record contains, in scientific language, information on how it is to be played, using the cartridge and needle provided. The first eight minutes consist of a wavy, electronic hum, which is the transmission of 115 photographs and diagrams in electronic form depicting the mathematics, chemistry, geology and biology of the Earth and a description of the solar system.

The President's Message

One of the messages, in electronic form, is a letter from President Carter. It reads, in part:

"We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some--perhaps many--may have inhabited planets and space-faring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message:

"This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe."

The musical selections represent many cultures and many times, including Eastern and Western classical music, ethnic music, and jazz and rock-and-roll. There is Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, A Navajo Night Chant, Peruvian Woman's Wedding Song and Australian Horn and Totem Song.

"Because space is very empty, there is essential no chance that Voyager will enter the planetary system of another star," Dr. Sagan said. "The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space.

August 20, 1977

Voyager 2 launched 32 years ago today, and to celebrate, we're going to publish a few Voyager related posts.

Stay tuned.

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" screening in NYC

The 1964 film by Sergei Paradjanov which provided the title for Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's book (and whose DVD release was noted here previously) is being screened, in a new 35mm print with subtitles, at Anthology Film Archives in NYC on the 21st and 23rd. AFA's website describes it as "[a] boldly conceived and astonishingly photographed blend of enchanting mythology, hypnotic religious iconography, and pagan magic."

God, the Universe and Everything Else

"Feeling unhappy because it isn't immediately understandable."

"Nothing will put astrologers out of business."

Here is a video of Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, and Arthur C. Clarke talking about everything and everything's beginning. It consists of questions and answers. The first point that Carl Sagan makes in this video is about questions and answers. He goes on to talk about answers in his own answers. Many people in this world are obsessed with finding and having answers to the questions that they encounter in their lives. Carl Sagan was not one of these people.

The canon of human knowledge will always be finite. The remainder of available knowledge in the universe will always be infinite. Carl Sagan encouraged us to celebrate that which we do not know, and attack it with questions and investigation. With full understanding that the task of science is undoubtedly insurmountable, we attempt it anyway. Not only is the task of science insurmountable, it is constantly working against itself. As soon as we figure something out, that new knowledge has a pesky habit of creating even more questions. Those people who recognize this fact, and purse the pursuit anyway are those who wind up finding the greatest answers.

Sadly, so long as there are things which we do not understand, and indeed there always will be, there will be people who will seek a shortcut to answers without even knowing the right questions to ask. It's easier to follow the words of a charismatic leader, to believe in psychics, blame personal shortcomings on fate, or settle a dispute with violence than to seek and confront an uncomfortable truth.

On behalf of all those he helped make the jump into rejecting dogma and seeking truth through rational inquiry knowing we will never fully find it, let me say thank you to Carl Sagan.

-- submitted to Celebrating Sagan by Dave Lodewyck.

new blog: According to Carl Sagan

There's a brand-new Sagan-related blog in town; topics in the 4 posts so far have ranged from the evolutionary origins of sports to neglected rocket pioneer Robert Goddard. Since Carl weighed in on a truly wide variety of topics, there should be plenty of material to blog about.

(Hat tip: Francois Tremblay; cross-posted to my personal blog)

Solstice

Dr. Sagan on the solstice.

Carl Sagan's Barsoomian blurb

I recently discovered that the back cover of the 2007 Penguin Classics edition of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs has a prominent blurb by Carl Sagan: "Might it really be possible—in fact and not fancy—to venture with John Carter to the Kingdom of Helium on the planet Mars?" Although the cover does not specify the source of the quote, it's from the "Blues for a Red Planet" chapter from Cosmos; references to his being a fan of the John Carter books since first reading them as a kid appear scattered throughout Sagan's writings, including an anecdote about obtaining a related vanity plate (due to a limit of 6 letters per plate, he had to settle for "PHOBOS" instead of his first choice, "BARSOOM"). And this hasn't been the first time that Burroughsians have noticed Sagan; for instance, consider the Burroughs fansite ERBzine's lengthy tribute to Sagan.

I'd be happy to see more Sagan blurbs on other science fiction books; he had a generally favorable view of science fiction in general (with some caveats about scientific errors and the promotion of pseudoscience) and had nice things to say about quite a few science fiction classics in his writings, for instance in the essay "Science Fiction—A Personal View" in Broca's Brain, or the extended discussion in Pale Blue Dot (which I was quite surprised to see when first reading it) of a 1942 short story by Jack Williamson dealing with antimatter and asteroid colonization, "Collision Orbit" (which was incorporated into the fix-up novel Seetee Ship). (By the way, I've always wondered if the character Jane Carter in Williamson's The Humanoids was a Burroughs reference, with the character's teleportation abilities being a takeoff on Burroughs's use of astral projection to get John Carter to Mars.)

Help Celebrating Sagan Grow

A lot has changed since David and I started Celebrating Sagan in December of 2006. And while we've both moved on to other projects and different things, I've never been happy with how we left website. I especially always felt that it could and should be more.

Thanks to the help of Joel the site has been slowly coasting through the years accumulating a few a posts and a few comments here and there. Getting by but not really making any progress.

I've decided that with the 75th anniversary of Sagan's birth looming on the horizon, now might be a great time to reach out to the Celebrating Sagan community and see if we can elevate the site into a place where we -- in addition to celebrating the life of Carl Sagan through our memories -- celebrate the good doctor through new creative works, interpretations of his writings, or updates on his ideas. More than just a slow cascade of post cards, I believe that this can become a living and breathing testament to one man's passion and enthusiasm for life.

I know that time and resources are scarce for most... myself included. That is why I created this short survey. Please take a moment to provide some feedback. Your ideas help inform how Celebrating Sagan grows in coming years.

Thank you.

Bryan.

Across the Universe

Thomas Mallon has an article in the most recent issue of The Atlantic about solar sailing and The Planetary Society. In the article he interviews Ann Druyan and Louis Friedman.

As friends of Carl Sagan you all are probably familiar with the concept solar sailing, but for those that don't know, here is an excerpt from Mallon:

In March of 2008, I sat down in the carriage house with Friedman and two other members of his solar-sailing team: Harris “Bud” Schurmeier, the retired project manager on the old Voyager missions; and Viktor Kerzhanovich, whose long career in both Russia and America has earned him the U.S.S.R. State Prize and more than one NASA Group Achievement Award. If the Planetary Society tends to exhort its more than 50,000 members in sonorous terms, conversation in the carriage house was speculative and playful. Throughout the morning, the years fell away from the three old-timers eager to tell a visitor about how solar sailing works—and to spar a bit.

“Light has energy,” said Friedman. “That you can’t argue with.”

“More important,” said Kerzhanovich, “it has momentum.”

“Therefore it has a force,” added Friedman. “You’re using the energy of light, and the force derived thereof, to transfer momentum of light energy to your vehicle, in order to propel the spacecraft. Basically your spacecraft, your solar sail, looks like a sail, but it really is a mirror. And so it’s reflecting the light, and that reflection is where the momentum transfer occurs.” If the mirror were fixed to a wall, there would be no transfer. But in free space, with no gravity and no air pressure? You’re off to the cosmic races.

“It’s not the solar wind,” Friedman reminded me.

“Things got named wrong,” said Schurmeier. However pretty it sounds, “sailing” is really a metaphor. There is such a thing as solar wind, but as Friedman explained, “Solar wind is electrons and protons that come from the sun, and they have mass, but they go very much slower than light.”

It’s photons, not protons, that we’re talking about?

“Right,” said Friedman. “Photons have no mass, they’re all energy. You do get a force from the solar wind, but it’s about a thousand times less than the force you get from this reflection. You turn your mirror in different directions, you can point the force in any direction you want!”

You can read the whole article, for free, here.

You can also contribute to The Planetary Society by becoming a member.

"Carl Sagan Lives On" livejournal community

As the title suggests, on LiveJournal, there's a community called "Carl Sagan Lives On", described as "an open community dedicated to the life, wisdom, and legacy of Carl Sagan." It's been running since 2003, with 94 posts in total; the number of posts has tapered off recently (only 6 posts in 2008), but maybe this post will encourage a few LiveJournal users to join up (after all, the news that Cosmos is on Hulu prompted the most recent post).

Cosmos is now on Hulu

Well, the website which has become known for offering up full-length TV shows (and a few movies) for free, ad-supported viewing (with a selection including a good amount of genre shows from The Addams Family to Firefly, but very light on science shows, and no, this doesn't count) has added the complete run of Carl Sagan's TV series to the mix. I guess this needs no further explanation, but Hulu's description is nice, especially the final sentence:

In 1980, the landmark series Cosmos premiered on public television. Since then, it is estimated that more than a billion people around the planet have seen it. Cosmos chronicles the evolution of the planet and efforts to find our place in the universe. Each of the 13 episodes focuses on a specific aspect of the nature of life, consciousness, the universe and time. Topics include the origin of life on Earth (and perhaps elsewhere), the nature of consciousness, and the birth and death of stars. When it first aired, the series catapulted creator and host Carl Sagan to the status of pop culture icon and opened countless minds to the power of science and the possibility of life on other worlds.

The version of the series used seems to be the same as the 2000 DVD version; it's especially nice to have Ann Druyan's introduction at the beginning of the first episode, as well as the 1990 updates at the end of episodes like The Edge of Forever. (I'm guessing that the DVD music changes are still in there.) And unfortunately, the website is restricted to viewers in the United States.

Man, I can remember quite a few of the home video incarnations of the series, beginning back in the 1990s with occasionally seeing the humongous boxed set of the series on VHS (sometimes with a paperback of the book thrown in for good measure) in science museum gift shops and the like; being completely overjoyed to find a fraction of the show's run on 2-episodes-per-VHS tape at a Blockbuster; the DVD release in 2000 with gorgeous packaging, going for $100 or more; last year's iTunes release for $1.99 an episode; and now, finally, this. I wouldn't go quite so far as agreeing with John Scalzi's comment that "the Internet has just justified its existence" (and the hardcore fans have a copy already, although now they won't have to lend out their copy to friends), but it's definitely the next step.

And of course, the news kicks off another round of Sagan fans' reminiscing about the impact of Cosmos and Sagan (just as the iTunes release did a year ago), in blogs (I'm pointing to a blog search rather than try to pick out favorites) and comment threads like this one.

Ann Druyan special on Equal Time for Freethought

Today, to mark Carl Sagan's birthday (he would have been 74), the WBAI radio program Equal Time for Freethought broadcast a special interview with Sagan's widow and collaborator Ann Druyan (the half-hour interview was originally intended for a fund drive show in September, but not aired in its entirety until now). An audio permalink will be added to equaltimeforfreethought.org soon, but for now, it can be found at the WBAI archive here and also temporarily in WMA format here.

The main news is NASA's establishment of a Sagan Fellowship to study exoplanets (planets outside the Solar System), but the conversation ranges from the profound (how to communicate the wonder of science) to the quirky (an extended discussion of what Sagan ate for breakfast). Check it out!

Cross-posted to my personal blog.

Carl Sagan jack-o'-lantern

By Caleb Pennypacker, via Nick Sagan's blog:

This brings back memories, since one of Nick's earliest posts ever on his blog referenced an illustration that I made for Halloween 2005 combining a pumpkin with a famous scene from Georges Méliès's Le Voyage Dans la Lune.

Sagan and Reagan

Over at the ScienceBlog Framing Science, Matthew Nisbet wrote about two men that he considers to be the top communicators of the 1980s, President Reagan and Dr. Sagan:

In the years before cable television fragmented Americans into ever smaller viewership groups, both men took advantage of the broadcast television networks to communicate directly to a mass audience. Reagan would make speeches during prime time from the Oval Office such as his 1983 call to scientists to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative. "I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete," declared Reagan.

And before The Daily Show or The Colbert Report turned late night comedy into platforms for scientists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sagan would appear as a regular on Johnny Carson reaching tens of millions of viewers. The astronomer was so familiar to American audiences that Carson would even affectionately impersonate Sagan in skits.

Follow through to the original post for video.

Carl Sagan in Time Warner Presents The Earth Day Special (1990)

One of Carl Sagan's more obscure movie appearances is in a video tribute to the environmental holiday produced by Time Warner in 1990. The special mixes its message with entertaining cameos by a wide array of pop culture celebrities, from Christopher Lloyd reprising his role as Doctor Emmett Brown from the Back to the Future movies to Rodney Dangerfield showing that having eco-conscious date plans are the way to get some respect.

In one segment, Sagan appears in full Cosmos explainer mode, lecturing an attentive audience on the scientific basis for understanding global warming, ozone depletion, and acid rain. The script was written by Sagan and Ann Druyan themselves, and they also penned an appropriately Cosmos-like opening narration about Earth's place in the universe:

We have searched the skies for signals. Our spacecraft have explored dozens of exquisite worlds in the family of our sun. But as far as we've looked, there's only one place in the entire universe where the miracle of life exists: our own planet Earth. Life is so rare and precious. We must safeguard, protect, and cherish it.

Sagan is also one of the scientific advisors listed in the credits.

(I've also posted a lengthier, but less Sagan-centric, take on the special on my personal blog.)

Contact on TCM's 31 Days of Oscar

On Sunday, February 24th, Turner Classic Movies will be airing Contact as part of this month's "31 Days of Oscar", in which Academy Award-winning movies are showcased.

Check out the TCM Movie Database entry for the film. Sean Axmaker provides an excellent overview of the film, from the production history to the issues and themes involved; Sagan is described as "one of the most effective spokesmen for the advancement of science and space exploration in the world", and the entry also includes a quote from Ann Druyan:

"Carl's and my dream was to write something that would be a fictional representation of what contact would be like," explains Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife and collaborator. "But it would also have the tension inherent between religion and science, which was an area of philosophical and intellectual interest that riveted both of us."

Each night's worth of movies is organized by a specific decade (all the way from the 1920s to the 1990s and 2000s); it so happens that immediately before Contact on the schedule is a somewhat different 1997 alien contact science fiction film, Men in Black. Saganites have mixed opinions on the merits of MIB; Keay Davidson in his biography of Sagan dismisses it as a dumbed-down "mean-spirited bloodbath"; whereas pop-culture-savvy Nick Sagan slipped in an homage (or more precisely, an homage to an homage) to it in his short story "Tees and Sympathy":

I thought that was clear. The reason why I’m wearing a black suit and sunglasses is because I’m homaging Men in Black.

And Phil Plait answers the question of how "a skeptical, UFO-bashing, aliens-aren't-visiting-us-and-excoriating-cow- you-know-whats scientist-type guy" can enjoy the film in his review:

I loved this movie.

Surprised? "What's a skeptical, UFO-bashing, aliens- aren't-visiting-us-and-excoriating-cow-you-know-whats scientist-type guy going around saying he loves a movie whose very premise is that not only do aliens exist, but live among us?" you are asking yourself.

Well, the movie is awesome. It rocks. I laughed all the way through it. It's funny. It's also satirical, poking gentle but firm fun at the whole UFO and alien subculture.

(Also, for all the differences in tone, note that both films use a shot consisting of an extended zoom out from Earth to outer space to comment on humanity's place in the universe.)

"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" released on DVD last week

If you're wondering why you never heard of a spinoff of Cosmos based on Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's book of the same name, it's because the film in question — a 1964 Soviet film by Sergei Parajanov — was instead the source for the name of the Sagan/Druyan book! (Also, the film is not a documentary as one might expect, but fiction.) This seems to be the first North American region DVD release. Some links to stuff about the film:

• IMDB entry
• Amazon.com page
• New York Times DVD review
• Village Voice film review
• Time Out New York film review
  
• The L Magazine film review
  

Announcing the second annual Carl Sagan memorial blog-a-thon

Later this month, on December 20, 2007, we will reach the eleventh anniversary of Carl Sagan's passing — and the first anniversary of the wildly successful first-ever Carl Sagan Memorial Blog-a-Thon. Far exceeding my wildest expectations, this became a truly worldwide celebration, with more than 250 posts in 11 languages. And for those who like nice round anniversary numbers, this year also saw quite a number of significant Sagan-related ones: the tenth anniversary of the release of the film Contact and the Planet Walk in Ithaca, NY; and the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of the two Voyager spacecraft. I am launching a new blog-a-thon exactly a year after the first one; for full details, see the main announcement post on my personal blog. See you on the 20th!

Arthur C. Clarke 90th birthday blog

Earlier this week, I received an email from a Sri Lankan Sagan fan, Thilina Heenatigala, who had among other things organized a special screening of Cosmos for undergraduates at a local college last year. He is a friend of revered science fiction writer (and science popularizer/futurist, and inventor, and humanist) Arthur C. Clarke — known as the author of 2001 (book and movie), Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, "The Sentinel", "The Nine Billion Names of God", "The Star" and many others — and the General Secretary of the Clarke-cofounded Sri Lanka Astronomical Association. (In "Science Fiction — A Personal View" in Broca's Brain, Sagan paid tribute to Clarke, recommending "The Nine Billion Names of God" as an introduction to certain ideas from Eastern religious philosophy, noting Clarke's hard science background and saying that Clarke was "providing cogent and brilliant summaries in nonfictional form of many aspects of science and society.")

Since Clarke will be turning 90 this month, Heenatigala was inspired by my Sagan blog-a-thon to create a blog to celebrate Clarke's 90th birthday. December 16th is the special date! He is sending an open invitation to all Clarke fans to post birthday wishes as blog comments.

"Atheist" video by Zachary Kroger

This five-minute video in "defense of atheists" has been a hit on YouTube since its debut in mid-2006 (with more than 800,000 views and 80,000 comments, and praise from the likes of James Randi, Michael Shermer, and Penn & Teller), but has gotten extra attention from a mention in the article "God and Man on YouTube" in last week's New York Times Magazine.

Much of the video (a "video response" to icecorescientist's Pale Blue Dot video) features slides of famous people who many might not realize are atheists (similar to lists on websites like this one); and sure enough, Carl Sagan is featured:



The star of Contact also appears:

And at the end, this quote is featured:

Sagan and the Dalai Lama, a Retrospective.

Thanks again go to Larry Klaes for bringing this to our attention.

Religion and science do not have to be at odds. Science, said Ann Druyan, widow of Cornell astronomer Carl Sagan, can communicate with, learn from and even benefit from religion and vice versa.

Druyan, a writer and media producer who collaborated with Sagan for 19 years until his death in 1996, reflected on dialogues in the early 1990s between Sagan and the Dalai Lama at a Sept. 28 lecture in Anabel Taylor Auditorium. For the first time, film excerpts of the meeting between the two were shown in a public venue.

Sagan, Cornell professor and author of "Cosmos," "Contact" and "Dragons of Eden," among other books, was perhaps best known for his extraordinary ability to communicate science to the public. "He wanted to share with everyone the wonder and awe that science inspired in him," Druyan said.

She stressed that there were political motivations behind Sagan's work as well: "Carl believed that you can't have a democratic society if you have a tiny scientific elite and a public who is uncomfortable with the methods and language of science," she said.

Click here to read the whole article from Cornell University's Chronicle Online.

Galaxy Garden.

Regular Celebrating Sagan contributor Larry Klaes sent an email notifying us about the new 'Galaxy Garden' website.

The Galaxy Garden is a 100-foot diameter outdoor scale model of the Milky Way, mapped in living plants and flowers and based on current astrophysical data.

Artist Jon Lomberg conceived and designed the garden to encourage scientific education about our place in the Universe.

www.GalaxyGarden.net

Café de Sagan

While strolling along The Philosopher's Path (left) from Ginkaku-ji in northeast Kyoto this summer, my fiancé and I passed this little coffee shop, Café de Sagan. Of course we were drawn to the name, but it's location on a beautiful stone path that borders a canal known as the Walk of Philosophy made its appearance serendipitous indeed. We stopped in for tea and coffee. Inside ambient music reminiscent of the Cosmos soundtrack drifted toward the front from speakers in back, no kidding. We asked the woman serving us about the name, and with her limited English and my fiancé's limited Japanese we gathered that the two characters (seen below) are pronounced say-gun, roughly translating as "We hope you come again." A chance discovery with some karmic undertones. A lovely spot. And good, strong coffee. Been meaning to share.

Altair VI: Sagan on Mars Landing Sites

Journalist Larry Klaes sent us this link at Altair VI, where David Portee's wrote an excellent blog post about Sagan's roll in determining landing sites for a Mars lander.

Carl Sagan, an assistant professor of astronomy at Harvard, and Paul Swan, Senior Project Scientist at Avco Corporation, published results of their study of possible Voyager Mars landing sites in the January-February 1965 issue of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. For their study, they invoked a Voyager design Avco had developed in 1963 on contract to NASA Headquarters. The "split-payload" design comprised an orbiter "bus" and a landing capsule. They would leave Earth together on a Saturn IB rocket with an "S-VI" upper stage.

The Voyager lander would be sterilized to prevent biological contamination of Mars. Near Mars it would separate from the orbiter, enter the martian atmosphere, and float to the surface on a parachute. It would operate on Mars for 180 days. The Voyager orbiter, meanwhile, would fire rockets to slow down and enter martian polar orbit, where it would photograph the surface and serve as a radio relay for the lander.

Planet Walk.

From the Sagan Gathering:

Equal Time for Freethought

Carl Sagan fan and recent addition to the Celebrating Sagan family, Humanistic Joel provided us with this audio a few months ago, and we are proud to finally post here. To learn more about the following episodes of Equal Time for Freethought, or read to the transcripts visit Joel's site. Enjoy.

Planetary Imagery: 30 Years From Voyager Spacecraft

Wired has a gallery of Voyager photos up today that includes some Sagan material. There are some truly wonderful shots that I had never seen before.

Here's two that include mention of Dr. Sagan:

SOUNDS OF EARTH

Voyager project manager John Casani displays the "Sounds of Earth" recording shortly before launch in 1977. The 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph record was intended to serve as a time capsule that could communicate the story of Earth to extraterrestrials.

A NASA committee, chaired by renowned physicist Carl Sagan, assembled 115 images and a variety of natural sounds made by surf, wind, thunder, birds, whales and other animals. They also embedded musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings in 55 languages. Encased in protective aluminum jackets, each record had its own cartridge and a needle. Instructions written in symbols explained the origin of the spacecraft and indicate how the record was to be played

CARL SAGAN, INTO THE COSMOS

Famed astronomer Carl Sagan served as a spokesman for the Voyager spacecraft. Here, Sagan discusses the Voyager 2 in the Jet Propulsion Labs in Pasadena, California on January 18th, 1986.

The Mix Tape of the Gods.

Joel passed along an excellent Op-ed from today's New York Times about the 30th Anniversary of the Voyager program, and what the Gold Records mean.

Excerpt, from "The Mix Tape of the Gods," by Timothy Ferris, dated September 5th, 2007, The New York Times.

Forty thousand years will elapse before Voyager 1, departing the realm of the Sun at a speed of 38,000 miles per hour, passes anywhere near another star. (It will drift within 1.7 light years of a dim bulb called AC+79 3888.) And 358,000 years will elapse before Voyager 2 approaches the bright star Sirius.

Out there, our concepts of velocity become provincial. The stars are moving, too, in gigantic orbits around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Voyager, a toy boat on this dark sea, will not so much approach Sirius as watch it sail by, bobbing in its mighty wake.

Contemplation of Voyager’s billion-year future among the stars may make us feel small and the span of our history seem insignificant. Yet the very existence of the two spacecraft and the gold records they carry suggests that there is something in the human spirit able to confront vast sweeps of space and time that we can only dimly comprehend.

An Essay.

All apologies to Audrey who wrote this essay. She originally wrote it for the blog-a-thon, back in December '06, and unfortunately it fell through the cracks. Thanks go to Joel, though, for finding a home for the essay here, on Celebrating Sagan.

Ten years ago, the world lost a great man, astronomer, and teacher. Last month, Dr. Carl Sagan would have celebrated his 72nd birthday. I often wonder, if he had lived to see today, what he would think about the state of our world. I can only imagine the look of disappointment in his eyes, upon seeing our flimsy world held up by the hands of reckless politicians who attempt to prop up it up with nuclear weapons - the same politicians who have threatened our existence with their negligence, minimizing or flat out ignoring issues of global warming. Where are the necessary CO2 emission standards? Of course, it is far more convenient for our generation to ignore the issue of global warming due to it's gradual process (just as the evolutionary process of man is) which will affect future generations. By ignoring the growing problem, we are sentencing our children and grandchildren to a grim fate.

Why is it that most people are only willing to give attention to the acute issues of national and/or global security? Is the American public so short-sighted and selfish that we'll allow our world to crumble, so long as it doesn't happen within our lifetimes? For those people who question or ignore such unsettling truths, from where, I wonder, does their skepticism originate? Perhaps, just as many do with organized religion, people find comfort in that which is convenient.

Dr. Carl Sagan, a man who was deeply interested in the nature of all things, fought very hard to convey the urgent message to the public concerning our threatened existence, relating to the increasing number of nuclear weapons being produced, and those countries who have ownership over them - including the U.S. Which raises another question: why do we feel so entitled? Why should we, and only we be able to have nuclear weapons? Are we really so sane and trustworthy?

Carl also stressed the importance of our government's involvement in regulating the number of CO2 emissions into our atmosphere. Without the United States intervention, as we are the leading contributor in this issue, our temperatures will continue to rise in relation to the number of CO2 particles in our atmosphere, unleashing a global disaster.

More than anything, Carl often spoke of the importance of realizing that all human beings are one - born of the stars; one species, one family, and from the cosmic perspective, undivided by countries, political parties, religion, or race.

If we hope to live to see tomorrow so that we will be able to continue to learn more about ourselves, our world, and the infinite mysteries of the universe, as Carl hoped we would, we must come together and realize that there is a more worthy cause we all should be fighting for: the continuing existence of mankind.

We seem to have a purpose after all, and according to Carl, a spectacular one. We are, after all, "a way for the cosmos to know itself."

Let's honor him by listening to his message, and come together to take action.

"Our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical point in history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition or greed or stupidity, we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the universe, and to carry us to the stars."

-Carl Sagan, 1980.
from the series "Cosmos," (A Journey Through Space and Time.)

30 Years, Billions of Miles

The Voyager program turned 30 yesterday. To celebrate this greatest of human accomplishments, Celebrating Sagan has compiled this brief list of articles discussing the splendor and glory of Voyagers I and II.

• NASA: Voyager at 30: Looking Beyond and Within
• Space.com: Voyager Spacecraft Celebrate 30th Anniversary
• UFO.Whipnet: NASA's Golden Gift to the Aliens: 30 Years Later
• WikiPedia: Voyager program

Also, please listen to the Sounds of Sagan audio player to hear some of the actual recordings on the Golden Record.

New Homepage

In our slow but dedicated pursuit to constantly improve and expand Celebrating Sagan, we have created a new homepage at www.CelebratingSagan.com.

Next week we will roll out a new page for Sounds of Sagan that will include some original audio from Humanistic Joel.

And as always, Celebrating Sagan encourages your input, advice, memories and content. Please email us at celebratingsagan@gmail.com.

This living tribute would be nothing without help from you all.

Thanks,

Bryan and Dave.

Planet Walk.

Journalist Larry Kales wrote in with this link to a great Sagan-Blog-a-Thon post featuring Dr. Sagan's Planet Walk in Ithaca.

The entry was posted by Stephen Frug and appears on his blog, Attempts. Aside from a detailed description and excellent photographs, Frug also links to the podcast audio tour, written by Sagan, and voiced by Bill Nye. Now you can participate from anywhere!

Marriage, Sagan, and the Canary Islands

Hi,

This is Panta from Canary Islands, Spain.

Here is my little contribution to your memory, Mr. Sagan.

When I got married I wrote my future wife a text becoming from Cosmos :

'En la inmensidad del tiempo y la infinitud del tiempo mi alegría es
compartir un lugar y una época contigo'

Thanks for so many specials moments Doc.

I will always have got an special place for you in my heart and mind.

Carl Sagan Gathering article in this week's Ithaca Times

Larry Klaes wrote an article about the Sagan Gathering for the Ithaca Times this week. Check it out here or just read on below.

A Organizational Voyage

By Larry Klaes

Cornell University professor and world-renowned astronomer and scientist Carl Sagan unquestionably is one of Ithaca's most well-known former residents, having lived in this town from his arrival to teach at the university in 1968 until his death from myelodysplasia in late 1996.

As a scientist and educator, Sagan brought the wonders of the universe to millions of people through his writings and other works for decades. He also worked tirelessly with his wife, Ann Druyan, the CEO of Cosmos Studios, to support, promote, and debate the most pressing social issues of his time, many of which are still with us today.

When Patrick Fish was in the eighth grade, he watched Sagan's landmark Cosmos television series on PBS when it premiered in 1980. Fish found Sagan to be an "island of sanity" in his world.

Fish's sense of wonder and admiration for Sagan only grew during the years, even as his life took him in several different directions. Last January, Fish learned about the blog-a-thon that took place across the Internet, honoring Sagan on Dec. 20, the 10th anniversary of his death. The online celebration inspired the Utica resident to become familiar with his boyhood hero again.

"I read a lot about and by Carl that was online," said Fish. "I became reacquainted with Sagan and his ideas, such as his studies of the greenhouse effect that makes the planet Venus so hot and its relationship to our understanding of global warming on Earth. I also admired how Sagan used his research into the concept of nuclear winter to play a role in pressuring the United States and Soviet Union to give up on the idea that a thermonuclear attack could be winnable for either side during the Cold War. Sagan was a scientist who did not lose his humane ethic."

A recent visit to Sagan's resting place at Lakeview Cemetery, where Fish was struck by the "humbleness" of the late astronomer's grave marker and several articles about the man resting at the site, led him to begin solidifying the idea of a permanent tribute to Sagan in his longtime residence.

"At first I thought getting this idea rolling would be difficult," explained Fish. "However, I found only goodwill towards Sagan and his memory in Ithaca."

Fish's initial plan involves the upcoming Ithaca Festival Parade on May 31. He plans to have a car-float in the parade that reflects on some of the major themes and events of Sagan's life.

"My plan is to have a model of the twin Voyager space probes that explored the outer Solar System in the 1970s and 1980s. I would like to have the hubcaps on each of my car's tires covered with a replica of the golden Interstellar Record placed aboard each Voyager probe," said Fish. The golden records contain images, messages, and music from humanity to anyone who finds those robot craft drifting through space in the distant future.

Other items for the Sagan parade float include a rendition of the plaque placed aboard two other earlier space probes named Pioneer 10 and 11 and a model of the Cosmos 1 solar sail craft, which did not achieve Earth orbit when its launch rocket failed in 2005.

Fish also hopes to use his parade float for the promotion and growth of the Sagan Appreciation Society (SAS), which he describes as "an ad hoc group of science-minded folk, skeptics, humanists, environmentalists, peaceniks, Sagan fanboys and girls, etc."

"The participation in the parade will be the first public act of the SAS," stated Fish. "The warm reaction to the idea of a Sagan parade-float lead to expanding the concept beyond just a parade entry and into a Sagan Gathering that will overlap and hopefully cross-pollinate with the Ithaca Festival. Up until this point, we've had no media exposure and no outreach campaign yet, and already we have commitments from as far away as Indiana. But what we need are more Ithaca-area people to get involved in the planning process."

Fish is also looking for people who knew Carl Sagan who would like to talk and share their stories about Sagan, perhaps as part of a series of panel discussions. "Men like Sagan motivate people. Those who knew him can really energize the public to deal with issues Sagan brought up that still go on today." Fish, who would ultimately like to see a Carl Sagan statue standing in Ithaca Commons, mirrored one of his mentor's concerns that have only compounded with time.

"Our culture has become more reliant on science and technology than ever before, but we are understanding it less and less, such as genetically modified foods. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan brought an artful way for a passionate expression of science. They were definitely in love with science, which not everyone appreciates or understands, but it is critical to the survival of our species and every other species on Earth."

To participate in the Sagan Appreciation Society and the Ithaca Festival parade float, contact Patrick Fish at this e-mail address: SaganGathering@yahoo.com.

- Larry Klaes

Oregon Band Performs Original Sagan Song.

Looking around for new Sagan content I came across another song called 'Carl Sagan'. This tune is written and performed by the Portland (OR) ensemble, Loch Lomond.

It can be a little difficult to understand the vocals at first, but eventually they do clear up.

And if any member of Loch Lomond comes across this post, please know that I'd love to include a recording of this song in the 'Sounds of Sagan' audio player.

Sagan Brigade at Ithaca Festival

Pat recently wrote to us to ask for help in putting together a Sagan Brigade for the Ithaca Festival Parade which takes place in early June. The parade form deadline is March 17th, so if your interested in participating please email Pat ASAP at SaganGathering@yahoo.com, or help spread the word. Here's a bit of what Pat has in mind:

It would be an opportunity for an uninhibited Sagan fellowship, a celebration of the man in the small city he called home. It would be a good opportunity to remind people of Sagan's continuing impact as well as a lighthearted way to put a public face on secularism, humanism, evolution, freethought, critical thinking, ethical science, skepticism, and yes, non-theism.

Again, email Pat ASAP at SaganGathering@yahoo.com if you're interested in celebrating Sagan at this summer's Ithaca Festival.

My son, Sagan. Part Two.

A friend sent me a link to your site. I saw the photo of SmW's son, Sagan, posted on Feb 14. Our son is named Sagan too!

When camping last year we met another family with a 5 year old named Sagan.

I wonder how many of us are out there? There must be thousands! I am attaching a picture of our Sagan. What a legacy! I hope Carl Sagan would have been proud.

Heather, and son Sagan, born 01/05/03.

a Pale Blue Dot

The Icecore Scientist put together this song and film called Pale Blue Dot. They dedicate it to 'Carl and his wife, Ann Druyan.'

My son, Sagan

Heres our contribution to "Celebrating Sagan"... my son Sagan. My husband and I can't wait to watch Cosmos with our kids and explain to them who this great man was. I get lots of comments on the name and he gives me an opportunity to explain to others the meaning behind it.



- SmW

Cosmic Calendar

In response to the Cosmic Clock post, Larry Klaes wrote to remind of us of Carl's Cosmic Calendar:

Beyond Belief

Before my long holiday train ride, I took the time to download the recent Beyond Belief sessions to watch during the trip. (One of the few bonuses of riding Amtrak is outlets.) This is hardy stuff that would've made Carl Sagan proud - the meat and potatoes of existence. If you haven't already, you simply must check it out. I recommend session 2.

If you're unfamiliar with the project, here's their website's description:

Just 40 years after a famous TIME magazine cover asked "Is God Dead?" the answer appears to be a resounding "No!" According to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in a recent issue of Foreign Policy magazine, "God is Winning". Religions are increasingly a geopolitical force to be reckoned with. Fundamentalist movements - some violent in the extreme - are growing. Science and religion are at odds in the classrooms and courtrooms. And a return to religious values is widely touted as an antidote to the alleged decline in public morality. After two centuries, could this be twilight for the Enlightenment project and the beginning of a new age of unreason? Will faith and dogma trump rational inquiry, or will it be possible to reconcile religious and scientific worldviews? Can evolutionary biology, anthropology and neuroscience help us to better understand how we construct beliefs, and experience empathy, fear and awe? Can science help us create a new rational narrative as poetic and powerful as those that have traditionally sustained societies? Can we treat religion as a natural phenomenon? Can we be good without God? And if not God, then what?

This is a critical moment in the human situation, and The Science Network in association with the Crick-Jacobs Center brought together an extraordinary group of scientists and philosophers to explore answers to these questions. The conversation took place at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA from November 5-7, 2006.

Ann Druyan gave a particularly moving presentation. Here it is in three parts:

Three Bedrooms – A Tribute to Carl Sagan

Scott Thompson emailed us the link to his blog-a-thon post, which is a worthwhile read. Here's a excerpt:

When I was a young teen in 1980 there were three televisions in the house: One was in the small family room, and was typically shared by my parents. Another was in their bedroom - used primarily by my father to watch Kansas City Chiefs football games on crisp fall weekends. In my own inner sanctum - my bedroom, I had a little 13-inch GE black-and-white set, which I mostly used for watching PBS and Star Trek. It was on my little television that I learned about the coming premiere of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos.

Cosmos so intrigued me that I was motivated to leave the electronics and Lego and book-strewn confines of my own bedroom in search of a color television. I knew I needed to see stars and galaxies, nebulae and molecules in vivid color. I persuaded my parents to let me use their bedroom color television to watch the series, no small task given their dubious view of science-fiction, their abhorrence of evolution and general mystification regarding science. I eventually won the argument with assurances of the series’ educational value and reassurance of “non-sinful” content. Every week, I’d find myself plopped on my parents white king-sized comforter, propped-chin-in-hands, waiting for the next astonishing (my favorite Cosmos word) installment to propel my mind far from my pedestrian Ozarks home.

celebratingsagan

When I was at home with my family in the Christmas Eve I just looked at my library and saw at the billions and billions book and realized that have been passed ten years since Carl Sagan left this world. Then I tought in all the things he taught me in his books, not only to really understand how vast is the space and the importance of the contamination and population growth control but the importance of questioning our thoughts and believes.

Ten years and is obvious that there is a lacking of someone who light the path of humanity from the ignorance and ambitions of power in this planet. In all these years population grew up from5.8 billions to 6.5 billions. The global heating has increased and there are countries where the PIB is less than USD 1000 per year. I could spend more time detailing each of these circumstances and listing much more, but is not my goal right now.

Are we living in a new age of obscurantism? It seems that is necessary a new renaissance of the humanity. But what is the way? Carl has buried a seed in every one who knew his work, and it is time for the new generation to do something for this world which is the only habitable until now that we know.

Well, I just wanted to say thanks Carl.

Leo

A Link to 'More Carl' on the Web!

Just an addendum to my post on this superb tribute message board. Many, many thanks, you're all doing him the justice he so deserves. It shows he is still very much alive.

I have my own website, about 70s and 80s UK radio (160,000 hits last year), used at times by a resource and meeting place for UK listeners and presenters.

It's rapidly becoming a Carl Sagan tribute!

Because of his video clips our 3GB monthly bandwidth is exceeded until January 1!!!!!!!! (We've had to purchase more!)

Here is the link:

http://northeastradio.co.uk/North_East_Radio_Revisited_Miscellaneous_Links_Page.html

All the best - let's all keep in touch and the blog going. Let's look after all us like minds ad be ambassadors together for Carl and science on this Pale Blue Dot.

Andy Fleming
Co Durham
UK

Sagan's Rationale for Human Spaceflight

Alex Michael Bonnici brings to our attention an article in The Space Review called Sagan's rationale for human spaceflight by Michael Huang. Here's a short excerpt:

In medieval times, some people kept a human skull in their home to remind themselves of mortality, and to view their priorities against the big picture of life and death. A modern equivalent is the dinosaur fossil. The fossilized remains of a once great and dominant species reminds the human species of our eventual choice: survival or extinction, or as Sagan put it, “spaceflight or extinction”.

It's a quick and interesting read and a great launch point for discussing our future in space. Thanks, Alex.

'Vision.' - A Tribute to Carl Sagan

Lang Kasranov writes:

Thank you for a wonderful site.
I would be honored if you would watch, and possibly include, my recent video about Dr. Sagan. It is hosted at YouTube and Google video.

Carl Sagan, gone for "ten trips around the Sun"

Tom Moore emailed us with the link to his blog-a-thon post. Here it is in full:

Carl Sagan was one of the strongest and most enduring influences on my choice to pursue teaching and then science. His view of humans as "a way for the universe to know itself" echoed and extended themes I'd read in Alan Watts. Carl's many books and shorter articles guided and inspired me up through his untimely death. They shaped my interests and led me to specialize in the science of the solar system. Many were critical of what they saw as Carl's excessive participation in the cult of personality through the media. But from my perspective, Carl was the ultimate modern renaissance man, with interests that spanned the universe in a way that few others came close to expressing. He excelled not only in communicating the excitement of science to the general public, but also led a generation of scientists in seeing the broader relevance and impact of their work, helping us to get beyond the mentality of the cold war. He is deeply missed.

There is a detectable web competition for the title of "Next Carl Sagan". It's a very tough act to follow on the world stage. But we do need others to tell us how wonderful is the world as revealed by science, how little we really need our illusions and superstitions, and how much more sound is a simple reverence for life and all the forces that have created it.

- Tom Moore

Missing (from China)

We received the following on December 24th, 2006:

Dear Mrs Sagan：

I am from China, the country which has the largest population. Please excuse me for writing to you first.

I know today is the 10th anniversary for Mr Sagan, so I’d rather like to express my regards and sadness to him - the great scientist by this E-mail. I’m so captivated and interested in his loving science and the strive perseveringly for it. Especially the "The Demon-Haunted World" is what I like most, it influenced on me strongly; it is exciting! Sagan is the idol in my heart all life. In the special day, except for giving my respect to you — dear Mrs Sagan, missing the idol, too. Thank you for the construction of science for long long time!

Sorry , my English is poor .If any thing wrong has in this letter or offend you , please don’t care and forgive me, thanks a lot! Because it is my first time to write E-mail in English.

Bai lee
Dalian
China
December 20 2006

Nick's Memories

Nick Sagan wrote an outstanding post yesterday - if you haven't read it, you ought to. From Carl's dictaphone habits to his distate for Beavis & Butthead and the movie Aliens, Nick lets us in on a little secret; his father was, it's true, a human being.

Sagan was so clearly a hero to countless people across the globe, and for those of us who can't help but do a bit of worshiping, Nick's portrait helps ground that awe without diminishing our hero's stature. Here's a choice picture and excerpt:

He had a knack for pinball, knowing just how hard to bump a machine without tilting it. We'd go to arcades together and he'd win bonus games like mad. Videogames were never his thing, though he could appreciate the better ones. I remember the day I showed him Computer Baseball, a strategy game for the Apple IIe. You could pit some of the greatest teams in MLB history against each other. We played Babe Ruth's 1927 Yankees against Jackie Robinson's 1955 Dodgers for about an hour, and then he turned to me and said, "Never show this to me again. I like it too much, and I don't want to lose time. Link.

Govar from India.

Hi,

This is Govar from India.

Just came to know about the Celebrating Sagan blogathon from Boing Boing and I couldn't wait to put a post on the subject.

Carl Sagan has, and is, in more ways than one, has given a new meaning to my existence. He's made me more mature, and yet very small at the same time. Here's my post on the subject.

My previous post on Carl a month back.

Thanks a lot for your time.

Regards,

Govar, Chennai, India.

StokedSkate.

The band SAGAN just sent us a Carl Sagan inspired song to add to the Sounds of Sagan. It is called StokedSkate.

SAGAN has worked on a film that has been informed by the good Doctor and Cosmos. You can read more about their film, Unseen Forces, here, and more about SAGAN there.

Looking Towards Winter.

What Sagan Taught (Me).

There is an invisible, intangible dragon in my garage.

Of course my garage is also invisible and intangible.

Ten years ago today I was near the end of my first semester as a high school student. A few days later, I would read a letter to the editor of a local newspaper about an obituary. Apparently, the author of the letter was annoyed that obituary praised the man for his contributions to science but mentioned nothing of his atheism. The man who had died was Carl Sagan.

At the time, I had only known him from reruns of Johnny Carson's impersonation. "Definitely. They'll need much more hair spray than we originally expected." Later on, I would learn he was the guy who wrote that "Jodie Foster movie about aliens". That's all I would know about him for next nine or so years. A Carson sketch and a sci-fi movie. I wasn't until this February I picked up Demon Haunted World and read his own words.

How different would my life be now if I had read it ten years ago? Would I have understood it? Would I have liked what he had to say? Where would I be if his message had reached me ten years ago?

With a lot of media, audience is often self-selecting. I didn't start reading DHW until I was already headed towards scientific skepticism. Ten years ago, I was still arguably a Catholic, though my family was no longer attending church. Five years ago, I was working at a supermarket while experimenting with new age stuff and Taoism. Two years ago, I was a disgruntled web programmer who felt helpless in trying to affect my life. A year ago, I had realized that Sagan was more than a Carson sketch, but I still hadn't read anything by him. I won't say that the nine years between his death and my first lesson from him were wasted. It may be that I needed to live all those experiences before I could understand what he was saying. I will say that I am glad that I read DHW.

Sagan's lesson for me was not so much how to be skeptical or why one should be skeptical. These things I knew something about. So what did I actually gain from reading his work? A deeper understand of what it means to be a skeptic. We are not here to contradict, to nay-say, to coerce or to censor. We are here to patiently and carefully seek out eternally elusive truths. We use what we learn to seek further and to help others. It is our demand for evidence before ascent acts as bulwark against false accusations, frauds and authoritarianism. Ubi dubium ibi libertas. Where there is doubt, there is freedom.

With that lesson learned, I will do what I can so that Sagan's "candle in the dark" will not be extinguished.

Thank you for your time, Jokermage

Little Atoms, Update.

Neil writes:

I stupidly forgot to mention where the show is broadcast, it on London's Resonance 104.4FM, which as you have probably guessed, is broadcast on FM to the London area. Luckily though, its also broadcast worldwide at www.resonancefm.com.

Celebrando a Carl Sagan

Como pasa el tiempo; ya son 10 años del fallecimiento de Carl Sagan. Uno de los "culpables", de los grandes "culpables". El otro creo que fue George Lucas. El 1º Cosmos lo vi, creo recordar, en el año 80 del siglo pasado. En ingles, ya que por aquel entonces pasaba una temporada en Eire. Luego los vi todos ya en casa. Los grabe en casete de audio !! En aquellos tiempos "pre-tecnologicos" no teniamos video, ni PC ... Que cosas y que tiempos ... Luego vino Broca, los Dragones, Contacto, Murmullos, ...

Pasear por el blog creado para homenajear la memoria
de este astrofisico divulgador que tantas vocaciones, ilusiones y

anhelos astronomicos desperto es magnifico.

"Mi memoria es magnífica para olvidar"
Jose, Celebrando a Carl Sagan

Celebration Link.

Russell says, "No better time than the solstice to celebrate the founding father of nuclear winter." Check out his dissertation at ADAMANT.

10 orbits on...

We've been 10 times around the sun without him.

Have you ever noticed that there are just some people who seemed to be especially "changed" by Carl Sagan? Those who go so “ga-ga” over him, that even ten years after his death, they still blog, gush, and talk nearly incessantly about him? And these are often the people least likely to otherwise worship, idolize, or even get excited about a professional athlete, celebrity, rock star, authority or politician.

I’m one of those people. My life-trajectory was tugged and defined by the gravity of Carl Sagan. He gave all of us reasons to cherish the pale blue dot and “all that ever was or is or ever will be.” He personified the Cosmos – literally.

He was a gifted scientist, communicator, dad, and human being. He moved millions and millions to see.

But what’s more incredible than how many he did move, is how many have somehow missed the message. Because make no mistake - and he would be the first to admit it – this is about the message not the man. As endearing as he was, this is not a cult of personality, but of the Cosmos.

Carl Sagan articulated poetic and accessible accounts of reality that were so beautiful and simple that once you understood what he was saying, you would never see the world the same way again. Everything was meaningful and awesome. So ask yourself if you understand what he was saying. Do you have any idea what you are missing? Please, take some time to get to know what Carl Sagan was telling us. So many smart, thoughtful, and loving people can't be wrong. I invite you to join the club.

I often wonder how much better our world be if he were still here to offer his insights and guidance. But he is gone. And the rest of us who did hear him can only forge ahead, doing what we can to open people’s eyes.

Rich Blundell
Omniscopic

A Poem for the Celebration

Carl Sagan's works have profoundly influenced my life for the better and informed my whole way of thinking. I'm glad he lived.

I'm including a poem inspired in part by "Pale Blue Dot." This poem uses religious terms - 'God,' 'Hallelujah,' but they aren't intended in a literal, theistic sense. They have resonance because of my upbringing and my culture, but one could replace them with similar words from any culture for the same effect. I think, somehow, Mr. Sagan would have liked it. So here's my contribution.

- John Sisk


In Good Humor

Cold cables carry warm laughter;
Dark night gently cradles bright-eyed lovers on through morning;
The sun rises and the sun sets.

Brave-chested birds, blue like sky-flecks, like star-flecks,
Like chords from God's guitar, strut and fly like
The shining gossamer of memory through forests
As green as the eyes of meaning:
Islands in the deep Pacific, themselves born
From spurting streams of rock-as-liquid, are
Stone-as-annihilation from some subterranean sea of fire,
That sea itself the hidden, brilliant rind of the world-fruit,
Tossing brief on a lonely limb of the Universe.

What then is the music of our solitary sphere?

The seed sings the tree, the tree
Sings the leaf, and the leaf's song
Is the flower, that blood-bright jewel
That kisses my eye for an hour
And leaves as Beauty does:
A gloaming hope, a gleaming vision, and -
Gone, leaving only fragrance.
I sing Hallelujah.

- Copyright John Sisk 2004.

More than an Inspiration

In an offhand remark to my husband, I said, of course a googol is a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. He was impressed, because how in the world would I know such a thing? As I recall, I learned that as a ten year old, watching Carl unroll a long tape about an empty village...

I rediscovered Carl's work as an adult, as I examined and ultimately discarded my religious beliefs. He gave the world the permission it needed to understand that even if there aren't any gods and heavens, it doesn't matter, because what is here already is so incredible.

- the freethoughtmom

Celebrating Sagan

I'm a brazilian MD and I was a superstitious and religious teenager when I read "The Dragons of Eden". That reading changed my life, helped me to choose my career and now I grow my children in a humanistic, rationalistic and scientific education. Earlier today I went with my wife to drink a couple of beers in his honour. What a loss for this irrational world.

André Bezerra

En memoria de Carl Sagan

Hoy 20 de Diciembre, 2006 se suman 10 años de la partida tan inesperada de Carl Sagan, el Astrónomo, el Ciéntifico (PhD), el Visionario, el Maestro que además the tantas contribuciones nos dejó su serie Cosmos para la TV en la que exploró todo: Desde el átomo hasta la vastedad del Universo y la cual inspiró a tantas personas a interesarse en la Ciencia en general y en especial en la Astronomía. Una de sus tantas frases quedó grabada para siempre: "Afirmaciones extraordinarias requieren evidencias extraordinarias" la cual fué su respuesta al preguntársele su opinión sobre los reportes de la precencia de los OVNIs (UFOs). Siempre amable, siempre sonriente, su visión y su interpretación del espacio y del tiempo fueron una inspiración para millones de nosotros.

Gracias Carl Sagan… lo echamos tanto de menos.
Herbert Erdmenger
La Rioja, Villa Canales
Guatemala, Guatemala

Cosmos

I remember seeing Cosmos for the first time and then eagerly awaiting each rebroadcast. This series not only introduced me to cosmology but to Carl Sagan himself. From that time on, I read every one of his books. I believe he did for the universe what Cousteau did for the oceans.

C. R. Berman, Jr.
Collegiate Professor (Science)
University of Maryland University College

Por el recuerdo de un gran cientifico

Estimados Señores

Durante la adolescencia y cuando estudiaba ingeniería, el Dr. Carl Sagan representaba para mi, el arquetipo de un científico, Docente y divulgador de ciencias por excelencia. Todavia recuerdo sus explicaciones sobre nuestra presencia en el cosmos, la teoría de la relatividad, y muchos más momentos que impactaron en mi mente joven sobre los profundos avances de las ciencias y tecnologías. El Libro "El Cerebro de Broca", continua en mi biblioteca personal, y lo he leido en más de una oportunidad. Un texto tan eclectico, tan bien orientado a la aclaración de una personalidad tan compleja como la del Dr. Broca; abrio mi mente a un grado de mayor tolerancia hacia un saber distinto, una definición de vida diferente; y confirmo para mi cuan atrapados estamos en nuestra telaraña de espacio-tiempo. Al morir el Dr. mi primera imagen fue su sonrisa y esas ganas infatigables de aprender, que ha servido en más de una oportunidad para alentarme a continuar en mi vida de docente universitario. Tambien pense que injusta que es muchas veces la vida, que alguien tan poderosamente positivo ya no estuviese con nosotros, mientras tantos personajes dantescos pupulan a nuestro alrededor, provistos de la mayor salud. Se que el forma parte del universo, y es consciente de todo lo que hizo, y como influyo en un mar de gente desconocida, entre las cuales me cuento. Nosotros en Argentina hemos podido tener personalidades como el Dr. Favaloro, que tanto hizo por la humanidad y aumentar la luz entre tanta oscuridad de la ignorancia. Gente como el Dr. Sagan, y nuestro Dr. Favaloro hacen que este mundo sea un poco mejor, más sabio y con predominancia del amor al conocimiento.

Muchas Gracias

Ing. Aguilera Sergio Omar (MBA-MPE)
Prof. Sistemas Operativos
Fac. Tecnología Informática
Univ. de Belgrano

From Carolyn Porco

I remember ten years ago today very well. I was in Hawaii and received a phone call very early in the morning from a fellow colleague and friend of both mine and Sagan's, telling me that Carl had died. We talked for a long time. It was such a shock: We had all thought he was out of the woods.

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I had the privilege of knowing Carl ever since I was a young graduate student in planetary sciences, and working with him on the Voyager imaging team. He was a very special individual. And very old world, too. I always half expected him to kiss my hand and bow whenever we greeted each other. Such a gentle man was he.

I remember being thrilled to be asked to work with him, his wife Ann Druyan, and others in crafting the on-screen character of the protagonist, Ellie Arroway, in the movie he never lived to see, Contact. I decimated the original script, had very little to say about it that was any good, and yet he graciously, even eagerly, accepted all my criticisms. It was just the way he was.

In my mind, he set the standard for how a scientist should conduct himself: Open to all ideas and opinions, and with grace and dignity, ready to do intellectual battle in defense of the truth.

There have been many people who have been touted as `the next Carl Sagan', but he was truly irreplaceable. I, for one, miss him a great deal, and often find myself wishing that he were around to calm the hysteria and steer us right.

To paraphrase his own words: In a hundred billion galaxies, we will not find another.

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The day he died, I was asked by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to submit my thoughts on his death for their on-line memorial. This is what I wrote:

"Of all the people I have met in the course of my scientific career, no one was more gracious, understanding, respectful and encouraging towards me than Carl. From my very first professional presentation at the age of 21, to my current position as the Cassini imaging team leader, Carl was there, always, with a kind, gentle word of support. I believe that he cared for people, genuinely, in that special way that distinguishes great humanitarian leaders. And I believe that underlying his life's work was a bedrock faith in the fragility, dignity and goodness of all humankind.

"His passing is a heartbreaking loss - for his family, for the community of scientists that he walked among, and for the world. We who remain on Earth have lost our guardian angel. He is part of the cosmos now."

Perhaps a bit over the top at the end, but then again, it was a sad day and I was crying when I wrote it.

Carolyn Porco
Cassini Imaging Team leader
Boulder, CO
http://ciclops.org

PS: For those who might want to read about Carl's life in brief, here is a review, published in the Guardian, that I wrote of one of the biographies about him that came out soon after his death. It is here, at the Guardian.

More Blog-a-thon Posts

Sorry it took so long to get these up, it's been a busy day and blogger has been giving us some trouble. Here's another list of blog-a-thon posts that were sent our way:

Chris McCoy aka El Destructo has a Sagan quote of the day at Memphilter.

John Newman at campuscodger.

Phil says Carl Sagan was one of the greatest people of the twentieth century. I agree.

Mark Madsen at Extended Phenotype has a nice post and a nice blog name, too.

Heber Rizzo gave us two links, here and here. Both en Espanol.

Kent Cline at Carbonfish.

Chris Patil at Ouroboros.

And Ms. Sid Simpson in Pinellas Park, Florida, participates on her livejournal page.


Thanks everyone!

Cosmos and Love

When I was at turbulent time, I wrote this poem dedicated to a girl I loved inspired by Cosmos and by Mr. Sagan.

Los átomos de tu cuerpo

Alguna vez leí
que en el inicio del universo,
todos los átomos
que componen la materia que lo forma
estaban tan comprimidos que ocupaban el mismo espacio.
Entonces imagino,
todos los átomos
que componen las moléculas
que componen tu cuerpo,
y el mío,
ocupando el mismo espacio...

Thank you for everything, Carl Sagan

Thank You, After 100.

David and I originally planned to collaborate on an article or two, perhaps a short audio documentary, to celebrate the life and impact of Carl Sagan. We hoped that we could shop our work around and at best get it published. Needless to say, like so many things, the project fell to the wayside.

As today's anniversary approached we began posting Sagan content to our personal blogs. That put us in the mood, and before we knew we launched Celebrating Sagan.

After 8 days and 100 posts we are in awe of the support and attention the community has given this project.

It is incredible to live in a time where it is possible to create a living memorial to honor someone. Fortunate for us Dr. Sagan was not just anyone. And because the good Doctor meant so much to so many people Celebrating Sagan took off, and here we are, creating a memorial as a community.

Thank you all for your work.

Gracias

No sabría expresar debidamente hasta que punto ver Cosmos fue importante para mí. Entonces era muy pequeño y pienso que me dio elementos para desarrollar muchos de los mejores aspectos de mi identidad. No me dedico al ámbito científico pero ¿quién puede pasarse de una visión del universo como la que nos explicó Sagan? ¿Quién puede pasarse de una visión crítica, honesta e informada sobre el mundo que nos rodea?

Sin duda hay miles de personas en la misma situación: la labor divulgativa de Sagan ha mejorado el mundo.

G. Centenera

Earliest Memory.

My earliest and most personal memory of Carl Sagan is of a time I had coffee with him in the library of the Genetics Department at Stanford Medical School. The time was the 1961-62 school year; I was a senior Biology major doing an undergraduate research project connected with Multivator, a life-detection instrument system we hoped would be part of the Viking Missions to Mars, and Carl was a visitor in Joshua Lederberg's laboratory. I think this was the first and probably the only time an astronomer has been on the faculty of a medical school.

Anyway, I was in the departmental library, where the coffee machine was located, and Carl walked in. We immediately got into a conversation about exobiology, the search for life on Mars, and prebiotic chemistry in general. He encouraged me to go into exobiology and predicted that if there were enough researchers, we might have a self-replicating system in a decade or so.

As it turned out, I didn't follow his suggestion, largely because I felt that I was much better at biology than chemistry, but since 2001, I've been working with Stanley Miller on prebiotic chemistry and with Jeffrey Bada on detecting biomarkers on Mars. Thus, after forty years, I finally took Carl's advice and got into exobiology, as I should have originally. We still don't have a self-replicating system, but impressive progress has been made with ribozymes that can copy limited stretches of RNA, so it's probably just a matter of time before we do.

This incident was an inspiration and I followed Carl's career with interest from then on, even though I spent most of my working life as a microbial geneticist and biochemist instead.

John H. Chalmers, Ph.D.

Sagan

A decade

Ten years. I remember that morning ten years ago when the clock radio woke me up by telling me Carl Sagan had died. It was local news; he was here, at the Hutch; we knew he was here, and why, and we exchanged worried gossip. I knew people who knew people who said things looked grim. Then I woke up to the radio that morning - I remember the fury, the no no no no, the damn and hell.

He's a sort of parent of B&W, Carl Sagan is. As is Dawkins. The two formed a kind of pair in my mind in the mid-90s, and I was oddly pleased to see what Dawkins said of Sagan in his tribute in Skeptical Inquirer:

My candidate for planetary ambassador, my own nominee to present our credentials in galactic chancelleries, can be none other than Carl Sagan himself. He is wise, humane, polymathic, gentle, witty, well-read, and incapable of composing a dull sentence"...I met him only once, so my feeling of desolation and loss at his death is based entirely on his writings. Carl Sagan was one of the great literary stylists of our age, and he did it by giving proper weight to the poetry of science. It is hard to think of anyone whom our planet can so ill afford to lose.

Just what I thought. Especially right now, we could and can ill afford to lose him. (Look how bad things have gotten since then! So you see what I mean. Never mind about correlation and causation; you know what I mean.)

It was The Demon-Haunted World, especially, that was a kind of parent of B&W. It got a lot of attention, and Sagan did a lot of interviews. I taped a couple of them, on 'Fresh Air' and 'Science Friday'; they were small educations in skepticism by themselves. The book and the interviews coincided with various encounters with New Agey people I kept stumbling into around that time, and the result was a heightened interest in pseudoscience and woolly thinking that has stuck to me like glue ever since. (Thus it is a little dizzying to see that Little Atoms is doing a special tribute broadcast this Friday with Ann Druyan and A C Grayling and several associates of Sagan's. I've been on Little Atoms, thinks I to myself. Full circle, kind of thing.)

A lot of people date the beginnings of their interest in science to a tv programme or book or magazine column of Carl Sagan's. He got a lot done in 62 years.

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Ophelia Benson, Editor
Butterflies and Wheels
www.butterfliesandwheels.com
Demon Haunted World
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Remembering a Young Carl Sagan

In the fall of 1963 I was taking an astronomy course at Goddard College. One day the professor took me aside and said he'd arranged for an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Harvard named Carl Sagan to drive up to the campus and give a lecture on the solar system. Knowing of my long time interest in astronomy he asked if I'd show him around the campus and escort him to the dining room for dinner. I did and of course the lecture (a slide show with some of the best planetary photos of the time) was great. Mind you, at that time Dr. Sagan was a total unknown outside of the Astronomy Dept. at Harvard, and the big concern from my professor was how the college administration would feel about his spending $300 of his budget to pay for Dr. Sagan.

As Carl Sagan became better know, appearing on TV, publishing books and doing the Cosmos series, I'd drive a lot of my friends up the wall by exclaiming, "I know that guy!". And then telling the above tale. But I know it caused many of them to read his books. He is missed now more than ever.

- Chip