Carl Sagan

Also known as Sagan, Carl E. Sagan, Carl E Sagan, C. E. Sagan, C.E. Sagan, C E Sagan, C. Sagan, C Sagan

American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934–1996)

OverviewAI-generated

Carl Edward Sagan was an American cosmologist, astrophysicist, novelist, and science communicator. Born in Brooklyn on November 9, 1934, he was educated at the University of Chicago under doctoral advisor Gerard Kuiper. He worked at Cornell University and was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Astronomical Union, and the American Astronomical Society. His fields of work included astrobiology, planetary science, astrophysics, and scientific skepticism.

Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, the Oersted Medal, and the Klumpke-Roberts Award. He was married to Linda Salzman Sagan, Lynn Margulis, and Ann Druyan, and had children Dorion Sagan, Nick Sagan, and Sasha Sagan. He died in Seattle on December 20, 1996, from pneumonia. Notable works include *Planets* and *The Varieties of Scientific Experience*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 47 facts across 9 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Firecrawl, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: 9 November 1934
Died: 20 December 1996
Works: 67

Top works

Contact
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Billions and Billions
planets
Planets

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental…

Known for

Bookworms — (himself)2025
Piece by Piece — Carl Sagan (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)2024
Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters — Self2024
The Universe — Self (archive footage)2023
Cosmos: Mundos Posibles2020
The Farthest — Self (archive footage)2018
Wanderers — Voice2014
Cosmos — Self (voice) (archive footage)2014
Cosmos — Self (archive footage)2014
The Real History of Science Fiction — Himself (archive footage)2014

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United States
Active from: 1934
Active to: 1996

astronomeressayistphysicist

Discogs

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 25,776
Total plays: 201,596

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
· 2020 · cited 15,975x
The MIQE Guidelines: Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments
· 2009 · cited 14,228x
Salmon provides fast and bias-aware quantification of transcript expression
· 2017 · cited 12,516x
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
· 2018 · cited 10,997x
Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors, 1990–2019
· 2020 · cited 10,241x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“Imagine, a room, awash in gasoline. And there are two implacable enemies in that room. One of them has 9,000 matches. The other has 7,000 matches. Each of them is concerned about who's ahead, who's stronger. Well, that's the kind of situation we are actually in. The amount of weapons that are available to the United States and the Soviet Union are so bloated, so grossly in excess of what's needed to dissuade the other that if it weren't so tragic, it would be laughable.”
“It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas ... If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you ... On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones.”
“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.”
“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.”
“The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.”
“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.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Official website

Home - The Carl Sagan Portal

carlsagan.com →

Link to the official site · 6,075 chars · not written by Vinony

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Carl Edward Sagan (/ˈseɪɡən/; SAY-gən; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell, where he was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. He played an active role in the Mariner, Viking and Voyager programs. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and several popular science books, starting with The Cosmic Connection. He won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for The Dragons of Eden.

He co-wrote and narrated the 1980 documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which has been seen by at least 500 million people in 60 countries and won two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Cosmos, the companion volume, was the bestselling science book to date.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Carl Sagan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.