Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 - December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, and science communicator, renowned for his ability to bring science to the general public. He made significant contributions to the study of the atmosphere of Venus, planetary habitability, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. He was a pioneer in exobiology and in the use of space probes like the Voyager missions to explore the solar system. His most influential science communication work was the television series Cosmos, which inspired millions around the globe. He also helped design the Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft, an interstellar message intended for potential alien civilizations.

Quotes

• Not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you're in love, you want to tell the world.
• With insufficient data it is easy to go wrong.
• We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster.
• Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.
• In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
• The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such puny creatures as we are.
• The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.
• We've arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?
• We can't just conclude that science puts too much power into the hands of morally feeble technologists or corrupt, power-crazed politicians and decide to get rid of it. Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history. Advances in transportation, communication, and entertainment have transformed the world. The sword of science is double-edged.
• Science is much more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking. This is central to its success. Science invites us to let the facts in, even when they don't conform to our preconceptions.(...)We need wide appreciation of this kind of thinking. It works. It's an essential tool for a democracy in an age of change. Our task is not just to train more scientists but also to deepen public understanding of science.
• That kind of skeptical, questioning, "don't accept what authority tells you" attitude of science — is also nearly identical to the attitude of mind necessary for a functioning democracy. Science and democracy have very consonant values and approaches, and I don't think you can have one without the other.
• Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever it has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?
• It is all a matter of time scale. An event that would be unthinkable in a hundred years may be inevitable in a hundred million.
• Science is much more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking. This is central to its success. Science invites us to let the facts in, even when they don't conform to our preconceptions.(...)We need wide appreciation of this kind of thinking. It works. It's an essential tool for a democracy in an age of change. Our task is not just to train more scientists but also to deepen public understanding of science.