I regret that I have but five pocket protectors to give for Carl Sagan. He was a true inspiration. We could really use him now in this dreary spell we're going through.
I regret that I have but five pocket protectors to give for Carl Sagan. He was a true inspiration. We could really use him now in this dreary spell we're going through.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLkC7ralR30[/yt]
I vote 5 pocket protectors simply because I cannot vote "billions and billions" of pocket protectors. 
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIbbTHQmPkE[/yt]
http://s26.postimg.org/aypn5soc5/Pocket_Protector_Rating1_10.png
http://s26.postimg.org/aypn5soc5/Pocket_Protector_Rating1_10.png
http://s26.postimg.org/aypn5soc5/Pocket_Protector_Rating1_10.png
A respectable 3 out of 5 pocket protectors. He would have rated higher, but he is now well past his prime. He had questionable fashion sense and he fit the stereotype of nerd scientist too well, nothing special here.
(...now, removing tongue from cheek, I have wonderful childhood memories of Sagan. I am grateful that he opened my eyes to the possibilities of the universe and helped an impressionable child become interested in science).
http://s26.postimg.org/aypn5soc5/Pocket_Protector_Rating1_10.png
http://s26.postimg.org/aypn5soc5/Pocket_Protector_Rating1_10.png
A respectable 3 out of 5 pocket protectors. He would have rated higher, but he is now well past his prime. He had questionable fashion sense and he fit the stereotype of nerd scientist too well, nothing special here.
(...now, removing tongue from cheek, I have wonderful childhood memories of Sagan. I am grateful that he opened my eyes to the possibilities of the universe and helped an impressionable child become interested in science).
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PN5JJDh78I[/yt]
Pale Blue Dot - Audio Book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2oQ290xJko&list=PL8eF8SQ3w105X-3bMRC4CUjrajlFJyLHg
Pale Blue Dot - Audio Book
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2oQ290xJko&list=PL8eF8SQ3w105X-3bMRC4CUjrajlFJyLHg
I always wanted a Spaceship of the Imagination...
At the very least 18 years past it.
^Ouch.
Oh I love him.
It is hard to choose which is the most beautiful thing he said, but I may have to go with this:
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."
Oh I love him.
It is hard to choose which is the most beautiful thing he said, but I may have to go with this:
“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."
That is one of my all-time favorite Sagan clips. He says more in just a couple of short minutes than some people do during an entire documentary.
Sagan wasn't particularly well known over here, at least not as much as David Attenborough or Patrick Moore, but having revisited the original COSMOS a few years ago, I can see that his influence on the current generation of science communicators such as Profs. Brian Cox and Jim Al-Khalili is undeniable. He had so much to say about humanity, those who listened were duly enlightened and rewarded. He also had a nice speaking voice. 
I still haven't read "Contact" (nor seen the film) but it's something I'd like to get around to doing at some point.
I still haven't read "Contact" (nor seen the film) but it's something I'd like to get around to doing at some point.
Sagan was a professor at Cornell (my alma mater) back in the 70s and 80s.
He wasn't particularly accessible to students, even ones in his own field.
There was a story that may or may not have been exaggerated in the retellings about this:
Sagan lived in a house on one side of Ithaca's famous gorges. A fraternity had the house directly across from his place.
Supposedly, one fall, the fraternity (possibly because they just moved into the house) sent Sagan a letter, saying that they wanted to be good neighbors and inviting him to tour the house and come to dinner.
Some time later they received a form letter back...from Sagan's agent. The letter said that "Professor Sagan charges [thousand of dollars] for personal appearances. If you like to discuss hiring him for your event, please contact us to discuss payment and scheduling."
For several years after that, every Christmas, the frat would arrange the Christmas lights on the roof of their house facing his into a pattern that read "Carl blows."
He wasn't particularly accessible to students, even ones in his own field.
There was a story that may or may not have been exaggerated in the retellings about this:
Sagan lived in a house on one side of Ithaca's famous gorges. A fraternity had the house directly across from his place.
Supposedly, one fall, the fraternity (possibly because they just moved into the house) sent Sagan a letter, saying that they wanted to be good neighbors and inviting him to tour the house and come to dinner.
Some time later they received a form letter back...from Sagan's agent. The letter said that "Professor Sagan charges [thousand of dollars] for personal appearances. If you like to discuss hiring him for your event, please contact us to discuss payment and scheduling."
For several years after that, every Christmas, the frat would arrange the Christmas lights on the roof of their house facing his into a pattern that read "Carl blows."
He wasn't a nerd. They can't pull off the corduroy jacket/turtleneck look.
He probably never even saw that letter. Some secretary was too stupid to know that it should have been passed up the food chain.
Very likely.
Another thing, though: Sagan once objected to Apple's naming one of its OS releases after him (they give code names to every new OS release. I can't remember which specific OS this was, I know it predates OS X by at least a decade). I think he even threatened to sue. So what does Apple do next? They give another code name to the OS: BHA.
(BHA = Butt Head Astronomer)