Cosmos Host: Remembering Carl Sagan – Carswellfamilyfoundation

On November 9, the world will celebrate Carl Sagan’s 90th birthday. Sagan died in 1996 at the age of 62. Most people remember Sagan as the co-creator and presenter of the 1980 television series Cosmos, which was watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Others remember him from the best-selling science fiction novel Contact or the Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book Dragons of Eden. Millions more people saw Carl Sagan popularize astronomy on The Tonight Show.

Sagan was a consummate science communicator, insightful advocate, prolific writer, and distinguished scientist. What most people don’t know about Carl Sagan, and what has been somewhat obscured by his fame, is the far-reaching influence of his science, which resonates to this day. He advanced science in at least three important ways: he produced outstanding results and ideas described in more than 600 scientific papers, he helped new scientific disciplines flourish, and he inspired generations of scientists.

Jean-Luc Margot, a planetary astronomer, believes that such a combination of talents and achievements is rare and can only happen once in a lifetime. In the 1960s, very little was known about Venus. Carl Sagan examined how the greenhouse effect in Venus’s carbon dioxide atmosphere could explain Venus’s unbearably high temperature, approximately 870 degrees Fahrenheit (465 degrees Celsius). His exploration of Venus remains a warning about the dangers of fossil fuel emissions on Earth.

Carl Sagan has proposed a compelling explanation for the seasonal changes in Mars’ brightness that have been erroneously attributed to vegetation or volcanic activity. He explained that wind-blown dust is responsible for the mysterious changes in Mars’ brightness. With his extraordinary knowledge of astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology, Carl Sagan advanced the emerging discipline of astrobiology—the study of life in the universe.

Together with research scientist Bishun Khare of Cornell University, Carl Sagan conducted groundbreaking laboratory experiments. They showed that certain ingredients of prebiotic chemistry, called tholins, and certain building blocks of life, known as amino acids, form naturally under laboratory conditions that mimic planetary conditions. Carl Sagan modeled the delivery of prebiotic molecules to the early Earth via asteroids and comets. He was deeply involved in biological experiments aboard the Viking Mars landers and pondered the possibility of balloon-shaped organisms floating in the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter.

His passion for searching for life elsewhere extended far beyond the solar system. Carl Sagan was a champion of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, also known as SETI. He helped fund and participated in the systematic search for extraterrestrial beacons, scanning 70% of the sky with physicist and electrical engineer Paul Horowitz. Carl Sagan proposed and co-authored the creation of the plaques and Golden Records that are now affixed to humanity’s most distant ambassadors, the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft. It’s unlikely that aliens will ever find these artifacts, but Carl Sagan wanted people to think about the possibility of communicating with other civilizations.

Carl Sagan’s scientific work has repeatedly led him to become an eloquent advocate for issues of social and scientific importance. He testified before Congress about the dangers of climate change. Carl Sagan was an anti-nuclear activist and opposed the Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as Star Wars. He called for cooperation and a joint space mission with the Soviet Union in an attempt to improve US-Soviet relations. He spoke directly to members of Congress about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and organized a petition signed by dozens of prominent scientists calling for support for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

His most important gift to society was to promote the search for truth and critical thinking. Carl Sagan encouraged people to have the humility and discipline to confront their most cherished beliefs and rely on evidence to gain a more accurate view of the world. His most cited book, A Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, is a valuable resource for anyone trying to navigate this era of misinformation.

A scientist’s influence can sometimes be measured by the number of times his scientific work is cited by other scientists. According to Carl Sagan’s Google Scholar page, his work continues to be cited more than 1,000 times a year. His current citation rate exceeds that of many members of the National Academy of Sciences, who are “elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research,” according to the academy’s website, and being elected is “one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.” “

Carl Sagan was nominated for election to the National Academy of Sciences during the 1991–1992 period, but his candidacy was contested at the annual meeting. More than a third of the members voted to keep Carl Sagan out, dooming him to join. An observer at this meeting wrote to Carl Sagan: “It is the worst of human weaknesses that keeps you on the sidelines: jealousy,” according to The Conversation. This opinion was confirmed by others present. According to Jean-Luc Margot, the National Academy of Sciences’ refusal to accept Carl Sagan remains an indelible stain on the organization.

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No amount of envy can diminish the deep and wide legacy of Carl Sagan. In addition to his scientific achievements, he inspired generations of scientists and brought the appreciation of science to countless non-scientists. Carl Sagan demonstrated what was possible in the fields of science, communication and propaganda. These achievements required truth-seeking, hard work, and self-improvement. On the 90th anniversary of Carl Sagan’s birth, a renewed commitment to these values will honor his memory.

Sources: The Conversation, Mirage News, Morningagclips.com, Phys.org.

This article was written in collaboration with generative artificial intelligence company Alchemiq.