"Carl Sagan has been enormously successful in communicating the wonder and importance of science. His ability to capture the imagination of millions and to explain difficult concepts in understandable terms is a magnificent achievement."
USA National Academy of Science
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 contributions to the scientific research of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation.
Dr. Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books.
He wrote many popular books, such as Broca's Brain, Pale Blue Dot, Contact, Cosmos and The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of Human Intelligence, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.
His novel, Contact,
became a major motion picture.
The book Cosmos was published to accompany the most widely watched series in the history of American public television, entitled Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which has been seen by at least 500 million people
across 60 different countries.
Dr. Sagan always advocated scientific skeptical inquiry and the scientific method
He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies.
His works received many awards and honours, such as the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, and, regarding Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award and the Hugo Award.
Carl Sagan married three times and had five children. On December 20, 1996, after suffering from myelodysplasia, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62.
However, the quality of his legacy still has an impact on people from all over the world, from all paths of life, long after he left us. The Sagan Series is a clear example of the timelessness of his messages as a science communicator. Created by @ReidGower, it is an educational project working in the hopes of promoting scientific literacy in the general population through videos, using recordings of Carl Sagan's narrations. Result?
The Sagan Series video "the Pale Blue Dot" (2013) had a viral success: more than 6 million views.
When this quality of narration is present, people acknowledge it.
In their posthumous award to Dr. Sagan of their highest honor, the USA National Science Foundation declared that his "research transformed planetary science… his gifts to mankind were infinite."
He was a brilliant scientist. And there is not doubt that he was also one of the best science communicators of all time: Carl Sagan's style to communicate science is a gem to learn from. He made science more human. He made us "speak science." He brought science closer to us.
As well as the universe.
And the secret of his success as science communicator, was probably quite simple.
"When you're in love, you want to tell the world."
Carl Edward Sagan
Shorthand Social made by
Biography extracts from:
Video extracts from (by order of appearance):
"Contact" Theatrical Trailer , Warner Bros Pictures (1997)
Cosmos, Trailer, KCET, Carl Sagan Productions, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (in association with) Polytel International (1980)
The Pale Blue Dot - THE SAGAN SERIES, by Reid Gower (2013)
Carl Sagan Tribute, by Futurism (2015)
Photographies (by order of appearance):
Spiral Jetty, United States, by Greg Rakozy.
Carl Sagan by Michael Okoniewski (1994).
Sagan with a model of the Viking lander that would land on Mars (Sep 17, 2006). Photo: JPL.
Carl Sagan by Juan Osborne.
Cover of Dragons of Eden: Credit: unknown.
Carl Sagan. Cornell University; used in accordance with US Fair Use Act.
Carl Sagan and son Nick. Credit: unknown.
This Shorthand is an educational project in the framework of the Master of Science Communication, Barcelona School of Management, University of Pompeu Fabra.
All text, images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. All copyrighted materials contained herein belong to their respective copyright holders, I do not claim ownership over any of these materials. I realize no profit, monetary or otherwise, from the exhibition of these videos.
