As Einstein famously said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,” and Carl Sagan did understand our universe well enough. No one has ever been able to explain difficult scientific concepts as well as he did. This brevity has made him a very popular scientific figure (or a science celebrity if you will), and his enthusiasm for science has inspired millions and millions of people.
He would have turned 81 today, and in honor of the great astronomer who made science accessible to everyone, Viral Kollective presents 9 facts about Carl Sagan:
- He wrote a bestselling science fiction novel called Contact.
Contact deals with humanity coming into contact with an even more advanced extraterrestrial life form. It originated as a screenplay, but after the film development stalled, he decided to release it as a novel. It ranked no. 7 in the 1985 bestseller list.
Kip Thorne, the physicist consultant for Interstellar (2014), gave Carl ideas on the nature of wormholes for this novel.
Contact was eventually released as a film in 1997 starring Jodie Foster.
- He was married three (3) times.
As a counter to the oft-repeated stereotype that science geeks are a bunch of unattractive and sexless people, we present you Carl Sagan in his youth:
Dreamy.
He had not one, not two, but three wives: Lynn Margulis (1957-65); Linda Salzman (1968-81); and Ann Druyan (1981-96, his death).
Carl and Lynn.
Carl and Linda.
Carl and Ann.
- He believed that we are not alone in the universe.
When the flying saucer craze started in 1997, a young Carl suspected that the discs might be alien spaceships. He then wrote to the US Secretary of State at the time, Dean Acheson to ask how the US would respond in the event that the flying saucers are indeed from outer space.
And because of this…
- He was a co-producer of the Voyager Golden Records.
These are phonograph records sent aboard the spacecrafts Voyager 1 and 2. The records are some sort of a time capsule which includes sounds and images, so in the event of extraterrestrials coming into contact with the Voyager spacecrafts, they would learn about the diversity of life on Earth.
- He was one of the designers of the Pioneer Plaque.
Before the more-famous Golden Records, plaques carrying a message from mankind were included aboard the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts. Carl Sagan and Frank Drake conceptualized the plaque’s content, but the artwork, featuring a naked couple, was drawn by his then-wife Linda Salzman-Sagan.
- He had deeply-humbling views about our place in the Universe.
He knew the Earth was only a granule in the vastness of space.
He called our planet the Pale Blue Dot, which was also the title of his book wherein he says: “Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
The Earth: merely a bright pixel from six billion kilometers away. (Photo taken by Voyager 1)
- He hosted and co-wrote the most-widely watched television series in American public television.
Together with his wife, Ann Druyan, he co-wrote and co-produced Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, a 13-part television series covering a wide range of topics. It made him hugely-popular, and was so successful in helping people understand the universe better.
- He reached out to Neil deGrasse Tyson.
In 1975, he invited Neil deGrasse Tyson to tour his lab at Cornell University following the former’s application. Though Neil ended up going to Harvard, Carl Sagan was fine with it. Decades later, Neil ended up hosting Cosmos, a 13-part remake of the original series.
- He was a marijuana advocate.
He appeared as Mr. X, a successful pot smoker extolling the virtues of marijuana smoking in Lester Grinspoon’s book in 1969. Until his death in 1996, Carl Sagan advocated for medical marijuana.
