I used to watch Cosmos every week on PBS as a young child in the 70's. Carl fascinated me every week. I can still watch him on Discovery Science and I smile when I realize how many of the things he talked about in his show still ring true today. His death was a great loss to the scientific community and to dorks like me who loved tuning in to his show. Thanks to Carl I realized it was ok to get excited about science, I still do to this day.

The most philosophical of all statements is, "Why not save a step?" When one gets to the basic questions of religion or the existence of the universe, this question becomes unanswerable. As Carl says, so says Carl.

Science is my religion, A Candle In The Dark is my bible, and Carl Sagan is my savior. His views helped me shape my feelings. His words made me hunger to learn more. He helped me find peace of mind with my own views of life. My Mother and Father help shape my mind into being a free thinker and a lover of Science, but I can honestly say, I would not be the clear minded and criticaly thinking man I am today with out Carl Sagan's teaching. It is sad how few average people know who he is. Thank you for not forgetting one of the most important human lives to have come and passed.

Thanks Alan!  I’m certainly happy to have won but I’m still trying to put my finger on what his magic was.  There is just something about an informed, yet, open perspective that becomes timeless.  To not feel somehow threatened by new ideas, to see the underlying cause of humanity, to embrace our potential, and to shine the light of scientific analysis and see through certain falsehoods…  Carl had such a grounded, timeless, and (dare I say) universal perspective.  When as humans do we settle into his sort of rhythm of wanting to just simply ‘know?’  When do we see the world as a little blue dot that we are all apart of without such conflict?  When do we take responsibility for our home planet?  Without getting into UFOs (which I don’t believe in), I think the perspective of someday being a citizen of the cosmos with full knowledge of other intelligent races lends itself nicely to seeing not only the path of science to such a goal, but also what hampers and threatens it.  Warfare, hatred and closed thinking are unacceptable to such broad/forward thinking.  Why threaten such diversity and potential for some future war over oil perhaps?  Such foolishness becomes that much more visible.  Carl made the goal of reaching for the stars someday “TOGETHER” seem so natural as if that was what we where born to do.  Finding other intelligent life would indeed be the crown jewel of all possible future scientific discoveries, don’t you think?

I know it sounds idealistic but it’s not.  “Peace on earth” is possible and I thought that was want we were all living for.  If you don’t think it is or you’ve fallen into hating someone, just look at how our relation with East Germany (and other Warsaw pact members) and Japan has changed.  Or even the relation between Germany and France is now one of complete cooperation and united effort.  There is far too much to gain when we work together than when we are fighting each other.  As for Christian forgiveness, nothing touched me recently like the Amish (after the recent school shooting) who not only told their children not to hate the shooter but who visited the man’s wife and who laid flowers on his grave feeling that he was a hurt, lost soul who went decidedly astray but was still loved.  It’s not that we should lie down and be the willing victim of every crime.  It’s just that “hate” is the worst crime we could do to our own soul.  Hate is an “emotion,” NOT a religious attribute.

Spiritual people see the fingerprint of God or Buddha in the heart of every person and they understand that it is more the circumstances and the person’s conditioning that leads them to do such crimes.  If any one of us were born and raised in Ireland during the 1970s, we’d just as likely have blown someone up by this age as to have not.  Conditioning and brainwashing are the very masks that cloud our judgment and vision.  We can attempt to protect ourselves from the action of others without hating the lost people inside who are doing what they were told was right.  If we fail to protect ourselves, we become partly responsible for allowing bad things to happen.

P.S. Got to love thinking about an alien prime directive and what hurdles we have to overcome before we are considered fit to be “those who speak for earth.”

I was seventeen when I first read 'Cosmos'.  I am now 31.  I felt, then, that I was all alone, tucked away in a remote, unremarkable corner of the universe.  So small I was!  So incredibly big the universe! How great the problems of our world!  I went from a god fearing believer to an Ayn Rand atheist, but then I discovered Carl Sagan's great cosmic ocean. Sagan taught me how our personal gift of being human allows us to understand it - maybe just a little bit but enough to know it is ultimately benevolent.  As products of this universe we too are inherently benevolent.  Our success and survival, individually and collectively, relies on our understanding of the cosmos including ourselves and each other and the consequences of our actions.  It is here I remain, in Sagan's Ocean with my feet firmly planted on on planet Earth, with hope for our world and humanity.  I, too, wish he were still here with us.

I first encountered Dr. Sagan when I saw the movie version of 'Contact' at the tender age of 11, which led me very shortly to the book and to the rest of Dr. Sagan's works. I remember my anger and sadness upon finding out that he'd passed away before I even knew who he was. It didn't seem fair. His books, along with my preexisting passion for science, filled me with such wonder and joy for the universe, made me appreciate my miniscule but special role in the universe. I'd have given anything...would STILL give anything...just to speak with him and thank him for what he did for me and for the world.

In 1990, I was lucky enough to get to go to a lecture in Fresno, California by Carl. He was talking about how Mars had no ozone layer and Venus had a runaway greenhouse effect, both problems that Earth could face someday. His point was how unliveable these places were as a result and how we need to start taking better care of our home world. At the end he got a standing ovation. Afterwards, we students, physics majors, were invited to sit down and ask him a few questions. I asked him 2.To this day, I kick myself for not having a camera so I could show my son a picture of me with Dr. Sagan. My lasting memory is the direct eye contact he had with me as he answered my question. I now have all his books and watch Cosmos with my son on the Science Channel. He left a lasting impression on me and I am now a high school science teacher. Thanks for everything Carl. You are missed very much.

I was once asked who I would invite to lunch if I could choose 6 people living or dead. I chose Carl Sagan first, then Leonardo DaVinci, Jesus Christ, Thomas Jefferon, Emily Dickinson and Elvis Presley. I felt they covered all the bases that were important to me. I was then asked which of those 6 I would chose if I could meet with only one. Of course, Carl Sagan was the answer. I still miss him.

Of the many things I have learned from Carl Sagan, and others like him, the most important is that finding the right answer isn't the key for living. In fact, it is in the searching for the next question that opens our awareness, increases ambiguity, tolerance, and life. And that life is worth living. Thanks Carl.

Hi Alan,

I don't wish to rain on the parade.  Being 44, I do well remember Carl Sagan and participated in the founding of his "Planetary Society," as a contributor in that first year.  That was the only year, was very soon disillusioned by the emphasis by that group that it is a waste of effort to do human space exporation, because (in their view) we didn't have the technology to do it right for the money available.  I think, as evidenced by some recent statements by Stephen Hawking, this view is a fallacy.

This confuses me about Sagan, any moron knows that where we turn our attention and resources, breakthroughs follow very quickly.  Hawking even said in his recent remarks that the speed of light barrier may be broken (with cheating), at the very least interstellar travel with a reasonable effort.  But Sagan's Planetary Society sided with folks who wanted to take the slow and steady path, pushing for robotic efforts instead (INSTEAD!!!) of human exploration. Yeah, human exploration was an ideal, but on the back burner, like it's a nice idea in 1914 for a woman to speak her mind at the dinner table, but if it's a social/economic inconvienience...

There is no money anywhere, anytime, without humans being there.  Otherwise, the public just doesn't care, and they have to foot the bill.  Show a story with a person with a name throwing a snowball after landing on a comet, and the public will gladly pay the minuscule portion of the budget space exploration uses.  Then we develop technologies which can be scavenged by private businesses which provide the capital to really put space in our reach.

Having said that, and gotten the anger out of my system...  Sagan had a hell of an imagination.  In some ways, it could be said he didn't need a spacecraft, because his mind seemed literally to take him there.  You look at the graphics in *Cosmos,* which seem crude today, and with his presence in the filming one can believe he actually had seen these places.

I would almost believe it, and am sorry to have never met him.

It was Carl Sagan's book, 'The Demon Haunted World' that had the greatest impact on me. The guy wrote honestly; put into words ideas that had roled around in my head for decades. Carl's greatest legacy was his contribution to moving the human race a few steps farther away from mysticism and irrationality and on toward a time of reason and understanding.

I first met a "young Carl Sagan" in an early NASA film about Mars that I was showing my science class in Oak Ridge, TN in 1969.  He was explaining the then current scientific views on the possibility of life on the planet Mars and doing so in only the way Carl could.  It was remarkable and his way of explaining science to the public has not been equalled by anyone else in my opinion.

His Cosmos science shows are an example of science teaching that sets a standard of communication and excellence. I used Cosmos for my astronomy lessons for a number of years while teaching science to high school students.  

Carl, you may be gone, but you will live on for a long time in science education.

Back in the 70's in college I took a Philosophy course. I was initially using quotes from Carl in my arguments. My professor was giving my papers B's and indicating that Carl was a good scientist, but a 'pop' philosopher. I asked my professor to point me in the direction of philosophers that were aligned to my (and Carl's) way of thinking. He had me read John Dewey and Alfred North Whitehead. I saw this as a natural extension of the path started by Mr. Sagan. Carl had an overwhelming effect on my life.

On a lighter side,

Billions and billions and billions of years ago...

I am 48 years old and recall the many times when Carl Sagan appeared on Johnny Carson's tv show with his wit, intelligence and even his great sense of humor.

The way Carson "mimicked" those words, he brought down the house so hard the first time that I swear I remember Ed and Doc laughing soo hard and even Carl himself almost falling off of the couch!

I miss them both very much.

I was a High School student in 1975 working on an independent research project on the origins of life in the Universe. Having read his book "The Cosmic Connection" I wrote to ask him for guidance on my project. He took the time to write back to me, encouraging me in my studies and enclosing a copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica article he had written on the subject. His letter remains to this day one of my prized possessions.

People used to know what to get me for Christmas...the latest Carl Sagan book. At first he was the ultimate threat to my religious security system, but his good intentions and honesty drew me in. I did want the truth more than security. What I found in Carl was wonderful magic. Wow I miss him. John

I first saw and heard Carl Sagan at a lecture at Amherst College in 1970. He was demonstrating a mathematical proof of the probability of extra-terrestrial life. I was hooked. I still believe in the truth of the proof, and followed his popular work in the decades after. His legacy continues, even in the series of discussions I've led in my Sunday School class -- showing how science advances in fits and starts and how it is all part of our human need for the Theory of Everything, whether we are believers or skeptics.

Dr. Sagan did not espouse atheism, but pragmatism.  His underlying message, that all should have heard, was that if you do not believe as I do, that does not make you evil.

He had a tremendous impact on most thinking people. He used his clarity of thinking and expression to enlighten an entire generation.  

If he were still with us, with our little planet in the midst of widespread political, economic, and environmental anarchy, his voice would have been a clear and soothing reminder of who and what we are.

Dr Sagan was a gift we will always need.

Thank you Alan for reminding us of how wonderful and remarkable Carl Sagan was and that the world is a slightly darker place since his passing. Sagan, as much as my parents, shaped my thinking and reasoning. I believe, more than anything, that our presence in this universe is due to a very happy series of accidents. And I also believe that there must have been many more of these accidents yet to be discovered. And while I do not personally believe in a "Creator" and describe myself as an atheist, I do not discount the beliefs of others in such things. I don't believe that humans need the promise of heaven or the threat of hell to be good, kind and considerate of other humans any longer. Thank you Mom, Dad & Carl!

As I recall, I first discovered Dr. Sagan when I found a large hard-cover copy of "Contact", with a beautiful and enticing painted image of Earth on the dust jacket, sitting on my recently-deceased Grandfather's bookshelf.  I was about 15 then, and soon began reading the book - and couldn't stop.  When I was about half way through, I looked up and saw, by chance, a television commercial for the upcoming movie.  I jumped out of my seat with excitement, having had no idea a movie would ever be made, let alone already be in the works.  I did not realize that I would have to wait another six months until its premiere.

"Contact" would be one of only three literary works I've ever fully enjoyed - Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" being the other two.  Reading it was perhaps the first time I found a character like myself in a written work, though the crew of the Enterprise came close too.  It was such a delight to find that others could be so religious about living life beautifully and passionately, but still live only by the facts and evidence that are given, and not by way of artificially created rituals.

After finishing it I quickly discovered the Cosmos television series at a local library, and the wonderful feeling of enlightenment and awe that Sagan could instantly install in you from the first notes of the opening music.  The essence of his thinking and way of seeing the universe has lived with me since, and like all others who knew him through his work, I was very disappointed to find that he had passed away, and so recently.

A world so entrenched in darkness as ours today has a desparate need for one who shines as brightly as Dr. Sagan.

I had four young children when the Cosmos series was first aired on our local PBS channel. I was devoted to the kids and spent every waking hour playing with them and caring for them. All I asked from my wife was a few minutes of peace and quiet on Sunday evenings to watch Cosmos. Does anyone know if tapes or DVD's exist of this remarkable series?

One of Carl's greatest legacies is that he is responsible for opening up the light of science and sharing it with the many other great minds of this world who, due to financial or other impediments, are not accorded the higher education that he was exposed to. It is impossible to read his books without coming away a completely different individual. I did and do love the man and I was greatly saddened by his passing. He is the only person, along with co-writer Ann Druyan who has altered my views on some important subjects by means of a well reasoned argument. I remember when I was working as an electronics technician in Atlanta, Carl was giving a symposium nearby. I missed my opportunity to meet the man and tell him what he meant to me. But to whatever degree this universe will allow, this message is, as it said at the end of the movie "Contact" ... "For Carl"!

I always liked that crazy potsmoker. Contact was a great movie, although it requires a bit of thought. I hope he is enjoying the cosmos. I bet he asks a lot of questions, though.... :^)

Carl Sagan had such a gift, to be able to communicate in his lectures and writings so that the most complex topics and profound perspectives were within the grasp of his audience. His willingness, nay, eagerness, to cross-pollinate between disciplines and theologies was a delight. To this day, when addressing diverse groups of professionals, politicians and the lay public, I often ask myself, "How would Carl explain this?"

I suppose that Carl Sagan might be best known for a statement he never actually spoke: "Billions and Billions". He was admired by millions of us as the brilliant space scientist who could explain the most complicated and mind boggling theories in simple everyday language that we could all understand. Carl worked tirelessly to raise public interest and increase government support for space sciences. His accomplishments in this area cannot be overstated. A college freshman at just 16 years of age, Carl went on to earn four degrees, including a Ph.D. in less than 10 years, and holds more than 20 honorary doctorates. It has been estimated that perhaps as many as five hundred million people have seen his Cosmos series, or have read his books and articles. Carl was the advisor to presidents, organizations, and numerous foundations. He was one of the founders of The Planetary Society, a citizen supported space science foundation, and he was instrumental in designing the Interstellar Messages that were a part of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, and both Voyager I and Voyager II. With his quick wit, outgoing personality, and phenomenal intellect, Carl Sagan gave the world not just dry facts, but the ideas with which to imagine the unimaginable. I discovered Carl's work my final year at seminary after I had already earned two masters and a doctorate. To say he had a profound effect on me would be an understatement. I have since become humanist; and “A Candle in The Dark” is perhaps the chief reason why. As Carl might say I “chose cold hard facts over my fondest delusions.” I have read articles that claim my writing style mirrors Carl's in substance and tone. If this is true, there can be no greater compliment that this. Carl was truly one of the great people of our age. The world is much less in his absence.

www.wsdavis.org

We miss you Carl. Wherever you might be. It gives me great hope to see so many fans still holding a vigil for you. We do need you, now more than ever. I still hope that mankind will pull it together, but it seems that we are hellbent on tearing ourselves apart. Your work, your life, and your kind words gave us inspiration when we needed it most. I fear that today, most people cannot see past their own nose, long enough to see the big picture, part of which you painted for us on your journeys.

I do not know if god exists or not,but i am sure if she, he or "it" is somewhere watching us that once in a while a message is sent to us telling us to not stray from the proper path. a better messenger than CARL SAGAN in my opinion has
never existed. as with so many others tho i never met the man he became my teacher my guide, i wish i had been his friend, because i felt he was my friend.
when he died i felt a terrible loss and i felt afraid

I AM STILL AFRAID

little men with little minds run the world now and
i am afraid that in a hundred years if we still exist
we will share caves with roaches.

Ah Dr. Sagan, we miss you. I was hooked from the first time I saw Cosmos in 1980. He made you feel that he was talking directly to "you" and wonder of wonders "we" understood what he was saying, even if he was describing the most minute speck in the galactic void, and how it got there. A fascinating man, we have no one of that caliber leading the scientific community today. They're all far too practical and businesslike, and our universe is poorer for it. I do miss him.

Carl was an amazing thinker,teacher, and humanitarian. He will always be one of our great heroes. I hope that his teachings and gifts to planet earth endure for many generations. Anytime I find myself in a debate with one of my Christian friends and find myself wanting to say something derogatory about their faith or religion, I try to remember how incredibly patient Carl was in similar situations. I miss you Carl!

Carl was and is and ever shall be, my hero. I miss him everyday and I'm still heartbroken that he is gone from the planet.

Having been raised in an extremely religous family and culture, it was at first shocking when I  realised just how much I agreed with almost everything Carl has written. Perhaps it was his crystal clear thinking and unabashed honesty, but more likely I think his genuine sensitivity to the beliefs and feelings of others shone through.

Truthfully I don't think I would have cared so much about what he knew (and he clearly knew so much) if I didn't feel sure that he cared.

Growing up in England, I always chose the arts over science. For most of my life I just did not see the point of science. Carl changed all that for me and (I suspect) many others. Perhaps we may be called Born again Science believers.

          Many thanks Carl, 
                        tm.

As a young woman exploring the cosmos myself with my eyes to the moon and stars, Carl Sagan was an inspiration to me on my journey through this world.  He explained how things works and our place in the universe.  I had the opportunity to attend a evening in Los Angeles now many years ago that featured not only Dr. Sagan, but Ray Bradbury too.  I can tell you that I still remember how special that event was for me.

Thanks for the opportunity to share and recall the magic.

Jan Sherman, Dallas Oregon

To Tom Smith...the DVD of the show Cosmos does exist! You can find it on Amazon.com

I guess he was the person who got me interested in science and astronomy. I almost can see and hear him on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" saying "Billions and Billions". I miss both of them. I am surprised that no one has taken his place after his death. We sure need someone to make science and astronomy simple and explainable.

To Tom Smith, The complete series on DVD can be purchased from discover.com/science store for $129.

Of course, Sagan was fond of pointing out that he never actually said, "Billions and billions," but had the reputation of having done so as a result of his stressing of the "b" to ensure that nobody thought he was saying "millions."

Oh, and Chris, that hypnotic music is from the album "Heaven and Hell" by Vangelis (the composer of "Chariots of Fire," for which he is more well-known).

I still find it hard to believe that that one voice of sanity, in this world of insanity, is gone. But in some greater measure, he's not really gone. For everyone he touched, for everyones mind that was opened to the wonderment of the universe, two simple words will always be connected with his image... "What if?"

As a child, I was brought up to take the Bible literally.  The Bible teaches that women suffer during childbirth as God's punishment for Eve having allowed herself to be seduced by the devil.  How refreshing it was to read Carl Sagan's "The Dragons of Eden," in which he offers a scientific explanation:

"So far as I know, childbirth is generally painful in only one of the millions of species on Earth:  human beings.  This must be a consequence of the recent and continuing increase in cranial volume.  Modern men and women have braincases twice the volume of Homo habilis'.  Childbirth is painful because the evolution of the human skull has been spectacularly fast and recent....  The incomplete closure of the skull at birth, the fontanelle, is very likely an imperfect accommodation to this recent brain evolution."  --The Dragons of Eden p.97

I'm Colombian, and I can tell you this: Carl Sagan's influence in my life and of some of my friends' lives was far more important that our high school teachers in Bogota.

Carl gave us the scientific point of view of how special our existence came do be. By the tiniest fraction of chance, a perfect planet was created to sustain life. He showed us in Cosmos how the Sun in its formation spewing matter at a precise projectory and speed was able to create our planet at the perfect distance to sustain life on earth. He explained the perfect timing of a meteor destroying dinosaurs to make room for the existence of higher beings of mammals hence humans. He made his point of how our existence today is so special from the highest probability of these events that the existence of man is an extraordinary accomplishment. His message was clear; we need to preserve that creation and realize that humans must become better caretakers of this planet. He was the match that let the candle in our heads.

As a teacher of high school science I have long sought to instill in my students a sense of wonder about the nature of the universe and our place in it. I continue to use the Cosmos series for its ability to inspire and motive today's teenagers to think critically. Carls "personal voyage" continues in a most spectacular and lasting way!

To everyone posting here, your words have made me realize that there are many others who yearn to know and experience a grander version of creation. So I thank you all for your words. I don't believe that the world is a darker place with Carl's passing. Because of him there is a growing light in the world. We owe it to him to magnify that light he brought a thousand times. It is up to us to focus our thoughts on that light rather than the darkness in order to bring our grandest dreams into being.

Carl Sagan was a giant who was able to tap into that rational pulse that surges through all of us and tell us the exact names, dates and reasons why the blood of magic and mystery flowed, why said blood wasn't actually magical or mysterious, but that it seemed to be and we could appreciate it for the magic and the mystery so long as we understood that the rational held the day.

I discovered Carl at a time in my life when I was begining to question the existence of diety. I was troubled and confused by those feelings until I began to watch the Cosmos series. Carl made me feel comfortable asking the tough questions of life. My wife gave me the video taped series as a Christmas present probably ten years ago. I continue to watch it. I have found that no matter how many times I do watch,I discover something new. As always the voice of Carl has a calming effect on me. I am particularly appreciative of Carl's attitude toward divergent views-I have become more tolerant of those views in a way I would not have had it not been for him. Thanks Carl-I miss you

[[Many commentators have touched upon Sagan's legacy for scientific skeptics - for example, the idea that in this "demon-haunted world," extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, whether those claims relate to the existence of extraterrestrials or the existence of God.]]

A little credit where credit is due:

Sagan gets most of the publicity, but there are other skeptics of equal or perhaps greater merit. Sagan borrowed that line about "extraordinary claims" from Marcello Truzzi, who had previously written that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." Truzzi later came to regret that simplistic dictum, which begs the question of who decides the degree of extraordinariness of a claim and the evidence offered in its support. Truzzi was a co-founders of the skeptics' society Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), of which Sagan later became a member, probably its most famous. Truzzi parted ways with CSICOP largely because he came to see it as an organization of people who felt they were under no obligation to support their own claims as long as they supported supposedly "skeptical" positions as, for example, when a "skeptic" accuses a scientist of hoaxing a "pro-paranormal" experimental result on the grounds that the result is impossible because the phenomenon demonstrated was nonexistent. Truzzi also coined the term "pseudoskepticism" to describe such attitudes, which he thought were as unscientific and unproductive as those of the "mystery mongers" of the paranormal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Truzzi

http://www.webpan.com/dsinclair/csicop-and-skeptic.html

Interesting to think about Houston... Scientists and the paranormal don't exactly go well together and I'm not sure I blame them. I think it was here on the log where I saw a link that finally debunked the Lockness Monster - as in swimming elephants from a circus that originated the hox and frequented the lake. I would have loved to believe in crop circles and UFOs too, but short of being beamed up I'm just not going there. A few basic paranormal things I do believe in so I guess I'd love to see something a bit more scientific done with them. The existence of even just one claimed paranormal happening or skill actually being true could lend insight into a much more diverse reality than we currently experience.

THANK YOU DR.SAGAN

I also remember Carl Sagan first with his Cosmos shows in the 70's. But, it took me several yrs. to actually become interested in his works. I read his books and now have the dvd set of Cosmos.

I too remember his apperances on Johnny Carson.

Those were the days. His books and mind led me to reading. Reading a lot. I went on to Einstein and Hawking, etc. I have many books which I treasure so much.
I always wonder though why, if there is a "God," why would he/she take him from us at such an early age? He had so much more to give. He gave me the love of books. And much more. So, Carl i know you are in the heavens and have your own star now. SHINE ON!

For the mis-informed, I am both a scientifically-oriented person AND an "ordinary mystic"... contradiction in terms?... if you knew me AND my association with Carl Sagan you would not find it so.
If you see me flashing about the Cosmos some star-studded evening off in the future (could be soon, may not be for a few years)smile and don't deny.  This is where Carl is--and so will you be, Bye and bye...

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