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

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

Official website

carlsagan.com →

Link to the official site · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Carl
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Brooklyn
Place of death: Seattle
Spouse: Ann Druyan
Occupation: television presenter
Employer: Cornell University
Languages spoken: English language
Religion: agnosticism
Award: Locus Award for Best First Novel
Notable work: Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
Doctoral advisor: Gerard Kuiper
Field of work: astrophysics
Official website: carlsagan.com
Image: Carl Sagan Planetary Society.JPG

Show 19 more facts

Commons category: Carl Sagan
date of birth: 1934-11-09
date of death: 1996-12-20
cause of death: pneumonia
member of: Project A119
topic's main category: Category:Carl Sagan
name in native language: Carl Edward Sagan
Erdős number: 4
manner of death: natural causes
Commons gallery: Carl Sagan
medical condition: myelodysplastic syndrome
student: Steven Squyres
writing language: English language
short name: كارل ساغن
on focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject Skepticism
social media followers: 160000
topic has template: Template:Carl Sagan
contributed to creative work: Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
nominated for: Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel

Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~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.