A Year Science

In annual tradition, the Editors at Scientific American publish an article at the end of each year summarizing that year's scientific developments.

'The Year in Science' published on December 20, 1997 starts off with the death of Carl Sagan but quickly moves to focus on his impact on science.

To quote:

The year 1997 began on a somber note, just days after the death of astronomer Carl Sagan. In many ways, though, the year's events went on to celebrate Sagan's life. There were steady advancements in a variety of disciplines. But perhaps the most stellar happenings of the year took place in Sagan's own specialties, namely astronomy, cosmology and space science.

As if in tribute to Sagan, Comet Hale-Bopp blazed across the early summer skies, its fiery tail observed by the most sophisticated observatories and millions of amateurs--armed with telescopes, binoculars or the naked eye. 1997 also marked the 40th anniversary of the Space Age, which began officially when a startled world awakened to beeping signals from the Soviet Union's Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. In the years that followed, Sagan was a pivotal in the conception and planning of unmanned space probes, many of which are still returning important data.

Two spacecraft inspired by Sagan, Voyager I and Voyager II, which were launched August 20 and September 5, 1977, arrived at halfway points in their 40 year missions. Both reached the very fringes of the solar system in 1997, and headed into interstellar space. In their first decade, these vessels returned important images and data from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Since 1989, both have patroled the outer solar system. And in February 1998, Voyager 1 will pass the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, making it the most distant human-made object in the universe.

All of these spacecraft are equipped should they chance upon intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos. Pioneer 10 carries Sagan's famous plaque, which bears human greetings. And both Voyagers contain a gold record describing the location of Earth and human civilization. (Perhaps DVD compact discs, which only came to market last year, would now be more appropriate.)

To read more about Sagan's impact on sciene in '97, check out the Scientific American article.

Far Side

Thanks, Joel.

Mural

I recall with great fondness watching Cosmos with my Grandfather. To a curious 10 year old boy, the show was amazing; and it was one of the few shows Grandpa even bothered to watch on television.

He grew up during the depression on a small, dust bowl ravaged farm in rural Oklahoma. I suspect his family was too poor to migrate to California like everyone else. In the 6th grade he quit school so he could help support his parents and sisters. Although his education was cut short, many years later Carl Sagan captivated this man with lessons on physics and astronomy. Sagan brought out in my grandfather a child-like wonder about the Universe.

Almost thirty years later, as I watch Cosmos for the first time, again, I am left with the same wonder. Sagan was a master story-teller. Not only could he explain complex theories so that almost anyone could understand them, but he also presents them in a way which leaves me hungry for more knowledge.

There are already much more eloquent and insightful tributes to Dr. Sagan here than I am capable of, so I have kept my commentary brief. That being said, I would like to share a piece of artwork I photographed recently during my 20th High School reunion. I found this mural in the Science Hall of U.S. Grant H.S. in Oklahoma City. The school is scheduled for demolition sometime in 2007, and this painting will most certainly go with it.


Travis Church, Texas

Apple Pie Recipe

Here's an old recipe, tried and true.

I often bring up Sagan's quote when people say they've "built a PC from scratch" and such. Of course, I don't say it to make a philosophical or cosmological point of any sort, but to be the sort of linguistic jackass you know me as.

Neven, Florida

Originally posted to The Missing "O" on March 03, 2006.
Also see Neven's Flickr page.

Carl Sagan brings to mind two things.

1. Seeing the film Contact with my mom several years ago and finding it to be a vaguely spiritual experience (this coming from someone whose thoughts on religion are basically in line with Carl's).

2. Watching a few episodes of Cosmos with the authors of this site and some other high school friends on a weekend visit to Boston (during the 2004 DNC, in fact) and discussing how it was one of the most subversive television pieces ever created.

Carl, I should probably spend some more time with you. But these are good memories, so thanks.

Chris, in Chicago

From Japan

Thank you. Yes, thank you indeed.

I am so grateful to Doctor Carl Sagan for his many gifts to us. One of his greatest talents was making the cosmos accessible, but more importantly, he made the infinite vacuum PERSONAL.

When I read, or hear his praises, they are often sung by people who sound like they are reminiscing about an old friend, colleague or family member. He has had this effect on me as well.

I am no scholar, and at the time of my first viewing of "Cosmos", I had little to no knowledge of physics, astronomy, the history of mathematics or the science of the stars. A few years later after reading more of his work, he has taught me how to love to learn. He shares his passion and wisdom as if I was sitting with him in a quiet restaurant, asking him wide-eyed questions about it all.

This intellectual journey; asking questions, using skepticism, exploring the possibilities of the cosmos is exploring our history in its most raw form. When Carl made the cosmos accessible, he made the dust and gas our ancestors and our future just as hopeful as it was when the first microbes began multiplying.

I have a lot of faith in his words. And in turn, I have a lot of faith in us all.

Ashley

Thank You Dr. Sagan

Thank you for being a tremendous and positive influence on a young girl that thought she was the only geek in the universe.

Thank you for opening a lot of eyes.

Thank you for your enthusiam!

Thank you for teaching me. I am still learning, it's amazing that your show is still running on the Science Channel and is still as wonderous as it was.

Here is a piece of art made for you.


- Susan Anastasia

Sagan's Contributions to Us

I regularly followed his TV appearances because he had such a simple yet deep understanding of our universe and could speak in terms that was straight-forward and logical. Other than that I knew little about him. However, he was explaining the sheer beauty and majesty of it one evening and it struck me as how insightful he really was as a person and scientist. He had stated that if anyone doubts the existence of a higher being or creator all one had to do was look up at the night's sky-filled array of stars. To do this he suggested you pick a clear night, lie down flat on your back, relax and stare up at the multitude of bright stars peppered across the sky. Just lie there for awhile taking it all in and realizing how incomparable a scene that was. asking yourself the question: Was it a random act or was it purposely designed and created by a superior intelligence, an infinite being we call God. To any unbeliever, he posed that challenge.

- Art Murray

Claim to Fame.

Aside from Dr. Sagan's early writings that express his belief that life beyond Earth is more likely than possible, it was his observations about the Venus' atmosphere that launched his career. In this video excerpt from 1961, Sagan expresses his assessment of the second planet's atmosphere.

A Thought

This coming December 20th marks the tenth anniversary of the passing of Carl Sagan, and upon reflection the importance of the event is less a memorial to the life of the man himself but to the memorial of what he has come to represent, if only to a few. Sagan was a theorist, a scientist—indeed, an unqualified genius by any measure. But geniuses come in many varieties and have a strong tendency to lose perspective—to be unable to see the forest because the fucking trees are in the way. Sagan’s legacy—what his life represents—is the comforting fact that a man of his brilliance will inevitably ally himself for the causes of peace, knowledge, and earnest exploration.
Most of us are resigned to a life without fame or notable accomplishment, and if we are an exception, our glory is fleeting by comparison. Carl Sagan was one of the few—those who come only every couple of centuries—who look at the world and see something that no one else has ever seen before. These are the few who look at the world and actually see it as it is. While his contemporaries saw only atoms or stars or people, Sagan saw stars occupied by people who were comprised of atoms, and it was that balance that he felt across the cosmos that he endeavored to explain to the rest of the world. That, in essence is his legacy. That is the thing that he saw that we can never hope to see, but through the lens of his life and his work.
The distillation of his logic, as I interpret it, is that we cannot live without each other, we cannot thrive without the other, and that we are mutually dependent on each other, just as the proton is mutually dependent on the electron, and the sun mutually dependent on the planets. The lesson in our time is that there is no human without place and worth, and as a logical conclusion each must be preserved in order to preserve the other—and, most importantly, to preserve the human spirit of exploration and discovery.
Carl Sagan may well be said to have discovered the meaning of life—to live and to see others live on, in order to allow future generations to answer the questions we so longed to answer ourselves.