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Remembering Carl Sagan

Hamradioguy

Pyrrhonist
Hamradioguy
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
2,297
The Earth has made ten orbits around the Sun since Carl Sagan died. I feel fortunate to not only have met him but to have taken him to dinner when he gave a talk at the little college I attended as an undergraduate. He wasn't well known back then but his presentation was still outstanding of course. And while I already had an interest in science and astronomy I was moved enough to make sure I bought his books, and watched as many of his televison appearances as I could.

I've started this thread because I believe through his popularization of science, the scientific method and rational thinking he has had a profound effect on many here in the JREF Forum. Perhaps you were captivated by his Cosmos series on PBS. Or maybe you read "The Demon-Haunted World" and realized there is no place for superstition in the modern world. Perhaps you have put his "Baloney Detection Kit" to good use when discussing conspiracy theories, religion or politics.

Watch TV, surf the Internet or browse the JREF Forum and you'll see why it is so unfortunate Carl Sagan is gone. And feel free to post your thoughts.
 
It was certainly he, more than anybody else, who opened my eyes to the real world. Even after 10 years, I still can't find conformity that he is gone :(.
 
Good thread and OP Hamradioguy. My only disagreement is at the end you seem to imply things are somewhat worse today. Thanks to the internet, there's an explosion of readily available materials for skeptics and sciencephiles.
 
The Demon Haunted World was my watershed. After that, the universe sort of fell into place and I am a much happier person for that.
 
Asolepius said:
The Demon Haunted World was my watershed. After that, the universe sort of fell into place and I am a much happier person for that.
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For me, it was Cosmos. Twenty-six years later, it's still compelling. It's also where I first heard Vangelis. And I just bought The Demon Haunted World form y cousin and his two kids. He's always been rational and quite skeptical and know he will pass the book on once he's done with it.

Michael
 
Carl Sagan had a huge impact on me. When I was young seeing and then reading Cosmos opened my eyes to the universe. Then books like Broca's Brain and The Dragons of Eden started me on a path to skeptical thinking that enriched me greatly. He had a great gift for explaining complex ideas in an accessible way and his commitment to popularizing science is commendable. Who knows how many future scientists he inspired? I'm saddened that he is gone, but I'm even happier that he was here at all. It's not so much that the world is a poorer place without him as it is a richer place for having had him.
 
I saw him lecture once. The topic was whether the Earth could be identified as inhabited from outer space -- using then current technology. Pretty interesting. It was Broca’s Brain and The Dragons of Eden that made me a fan, though.

I believe, incidentally, that today is also the first anniversary of the Dover verdict. A fitting coincidence.
 
Dave1001 said:
Good thread and OP Hamradioguy. My only disagreement is at the end you seem to imply things are somewhat worse today. Thanks to the internet, there's an explosion of readily available materials for skeptics and sciencephiles.
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True enough. Unfortunately there is a lot of woo out there on the internet as well. Maybe things aren't as bad as they were, but then I turn on NBC's Today show this morning and see a "Holiday Gifts" segment where the infamous Teslar Watch is promoted. That kind of thing makes it tough to be optimistic.
 
Hamradioguy said:
True enough. Unfortunately there is a lot of woo out there on the internet as well. Maybe things aren't as bad as they were, but then I turn on NBC's Today show this morning and see a "Holiday Gifts" segment where the infamous Teslar Watch is promoted. That kind of thing makes it tough to be optimistic.
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It doesn't bother me. People can believe whatever they want. Pretty much anyone that can watch the Today Show can google "Teslar Watch", where the first page of results has a wired magazine expose on it.

A diminishing amount of people that are being taken advantage of are not active participants by choosing to reject skepticism, or by not having the critical though capacity to utilize it.
 
I just found this thread immediately after reading the Randi FAQ in which he mentions that all the great upholders of science and rationality of recent decades, Sagan, Asimov, Feynman and Skinner, are dead (towhich list I would add Stephen J. Gould). My own mentor of the life skeptical was Isaac Asimov, but certainly I always was a great admirer of Carl Sagan and was terribly terribly saddened when he died at the age of only 62. I knew him primarily through television appearances, and it is only since his death that I have read his books such as The Demon Haunted World and Broca's Brain.

In his personal charisma was the answer to all the hopeless religious who deride the atheistic viewpoint as 'reducing everything to its nuts and bolts', and viewing the Universe without poetry, heart, awe and wonder. His every word was suffused with the ultimate awe and wonder of the true scientist, who can marvel at everything the Universe has to hold for those of us who truly wish to seek, without reference to anything mythological or narrowmindedly restricting the whole of Creation to six thousand puny years.
 
Asolepius said:
The Demon Haunted World was my watershed. After that, the universe sort of fell into place and I am a much happier person for that.
Click to expand...

Same here. Friend's dad had the audio tapes and the three of us listened on a drive home from college. It was a day I distinctly remember thinking "Wow, this is exactly the way I've always thought but could never express so eloquently." Unfortunately, he died only a few months later.
 
It's so nice to remember Carl Sagan in a thread like this. As with so many, Cosmos, was the beginning for me. Demon Haunted World is a great swan song, but then who knows what might have come after had he lived longer...
 
Hey folks!

I have a net friend who is involved in some interesting projects dedicated to the life, work and memory of Carl Sagan. He's currently building up a YouTube page called The Sagan Appreciation Society. Check it out (one of the videos in there is a recount of my "pilgrimage" to Carl's resting place in early 2000)

In his own words: "Some pretty big news is in the offing, and they'd be in on it [the YT page] early. We have two fairly big announcements to make. One of which people can actually help with. And there are multiple projects in the offing of course".

Since there are quite a few Sagan fans here, I thought this could be of interest. Just subscribe to the page to get the news early, and also how you can eventually help out.
 
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