Remembering Carl Sagan

By Nancy Atkinson - November 09, 2009 07:24 AM UTC | Site News

Today would have been Carl Sagan's 75th birthday. His life and work were monumental in astronomy and public outreach, and he had a profound influence on many people. I count myself among those who say they might not be where they are today were it not for Carl Sagan. Reading his books such as "Cosmos" and "Demon Haunted World" broadened my horizons when I needed it most. One of my favorite books of all time is "Pale Blue Dot" which really puts everything in perspective. Above is a video excerpt from the book.

If you choose, there are a few different ways you can remember Sagan and celebrate his life:

Today's episode on 365 Days of Astronomy

includes an interview with Sagan's wife, Ann Druyan, who shares some reminiscences of "20 trips around the sun with Carl," and talks about the most recent sensation, an "auto-tune" song "A Glorious Dawn" made from the series "Cosmos," (which also includes Stephen Hawking "singing.") The song is being released as a single, and you can find more info on that by listening to the 365 Days podcast. The video is not to be missed, so here it is:

You can watch all 13 episodes of the documentary series Cosmos for free on

Cosmo Learning

, or at Hulu. It's also available for purchase on iTunes.

Over the weekend, Broward College in Florida hosted the first annual Carl Sagan Day, and you can watch videos of the talks given by Phil Plait, James Randi and more

at this link.

There are also loads of videos on You Tube about Sagan. Just search and you'll be busy all day.

And feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts on Carl Sagan.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com