He admits that as a child, he spent hours contemplating about the possibility of intelligent life on other planets. Although our search for intelligent life has been a failure even on Earth , Sagan aspires to make contact with the dwellers of distant worlds.
Space travel and Alien Contact are not stuff of science fiction anymore but a possibility in waiting. The concluding chapters touch on two matters of colossal significance, namely Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change. These two man-made disasters are a ticking time bomb that can obliterate our species, and we have done precious little to stop them.
We are destroying this planet, poisoning our oceans and destroying Specie after specie for centuries now. Man is without a doubt the most deadly predator in the history of Earth Life. And now we are on the path to self-annihilation. And this book is a wakeup call. A world ridden with ignorance and greed, will need to forego the idiotic bliss of being certain about everything. A good question is often times more educating than its answer. How can we love this world if we are awaiting an apocalypse, how can we love our environment and its safe keepers, the plants and the animals, without recognising that they are our distant cousins.
Life, wherever it exists on this planet, is our kin. And we are bullying, butchering and asphyxiating it everywhere. What a shame! This is the kind of book that we must read and re-read. A book we must gift our children on their 12th birthdays. Because Carl Sagan does more than just educate you about the wonders of Science and the Universe; he makes you fall in love with it. View 2 comments. I really enjoyed this! Sagan presents each topic in a clear and concise manner.
His passion for science and wonderful writing made this an enjoyable reading experience. Feb 28, Bettie rated it really liked it Shelves: ancient-history , gulp , lifestyles-deathstyles , sciences , re-visit , epic-proportions , history , casual-violence , environmental-issues , medical-eew. Re-visit 1: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean: After an introduction by Ann Druyan, including the benefits of the end of the Cold War, Carl Sagan opens the program with a description of the cosmos and a "Spaceship of the Imagination" shaped like a dandelion seed.
Eratosthenes' attempt to calculate the circum Re-visit 1: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean: After an introduction by Ann Druyan, including the benefits of the end of the Cold War, Carl Sagan opens the program with a description of the cosmos and a "Spaceship of the Imagination" shaped like a dandelion seed.
Eratosthenes' attempt to calculate the circumference of Earth leads to a description of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Finally, the "Ages of Science" are described, before pulling back to the full span of the Cosmic Calendar.
Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller-Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life such as life in Jupiter's clouds.
It moves to a description of the environment of Venus, from the previous fantastic theories of people such as Immanuel Velikovsky to the information gained by the Venera landers and its implications for Earth's greenhouse effect. The Cosmos Update highlights the connection to global warming. It then moves to Robert Goddard's early experiments in rocket-building, inspired by reading science fiction, and the work by Mars probes, including the Viking, searching for life on Mars.
The episode ends with the possibility of the terraforming and colonization of Mars and a Cosmos Update on the relevance of Mars' environment to Earth's and the possibility of a manned mission to Mars. Their discoveries are compared to the Voyager probes' discoveries among the Jovian and Saturn systems. In Cosmos Update, image processing reconstructs Voyager's worlds and Voyager's last portrait of the Solar System as it leaves is shown.
Definitely need an up-to-date version with all that has been discovered since this was published in Sep 12, Tony rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: anyone with an interest in science. Shelves: science. The best book ever written. A masterful work encompassing the whole of human existence and the universe, with a focus on science. Sagan discusses - evolution, - Kepler, astrology and acceptance of truth in spite of what outcome is desired, - Venus and Mars, including the made-up belief of life on Mars a century ago, - the Voyager spacecrafts' Grand Tour of the Outer Planets a rare alignment , - ancient Greek scientists, - Relativity, - atoms, elements, and how star make them, - Creation Myths, incl Hin The best book ever written.
As a child, I was fascinated and mesmerised by our world. It looked so huge, so full of wonders. The world, the Earth, waited to be discovered and I had a long life ahead of me to do that. Then, in teenage years, I already knew all there was to know about life, people, the Earth and the Universe. Nobody could tell me any better. The new source of wonder had become love — falling in love, finding the purpose in another human being, the complete m As a child, I was fascinated and mesmerised by our world.
The new source of wonder had become love — falling in love, finding the purpose in another human being, the complete merging of body and soul. Once I entered the world of adults, I realised that I knew nothing. I strived for a higher purpose which, it turned out, was extremely hard to find in between a daily job that gives you no thrill, the same four walls you hide behind every night, and the usual faces that say the same words day in day out.
The mundanity and routine that sustain a human life make it really hard to notice this same life. And then I started to seek answers, cosmic answers. Suddenly, it feels like a meteorite has hit my little planet. I feel like a child again! I feel in love again! I feel my senses being heightened and my pulse rushing. Carl Sagan made me feel like a scientist. For I have made a wonderful discovery - the nutrient of my little earthly life is curiosity — no step for the Cosmos, one giant leap for the cosmic speck of dust that I am.
I could talk for hours about how beautiful and captivating I found Cosmos to be. It made me crave knowledge of the unknown. It made my underdeveloped imagination burst with colourful visions. It made my stunted mind race. I savoured every word, embraced every idea.
I guess for someone who has read a lot on the subject I look like a newly hatched chicken, struggling to make its first steps. I have been intimidated by physics and chemistry all my life and now it is time to catch up.
My gut tells me that Sagan is not right in completely rejecting astrology, the occult or religion, but I choose to trust him because he has managed to put into simple words concepts that have scared away so many people for so long.
His narrative voice is the perfect combination of a bright mind and humility. It is subtle and guiding, not patronizing. It is human and it is humane — it makes you believe you can understand and dream beyond the boundaries of your own mind. Sagan was a great scientist, but I think his greatest achievement is that he made science accessible and interesting to his fellow human beings.
His venture to bring the Cosmos closer to humans might eventually pay off in helping bring humans closer to the Cosmos. I feel ashamed that my review of this monumental work revolves around my little nichtigkeit, but, after all, even the biggest galaxies are made of the smallest particles. View all 13 comments. Jun 09, Lewis Weinstein rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction.
Wonderful perspectives, marvelous photos and drawings, beautifully written Cosmos has stood the test of time yes, that's a pun I have read several books on this topic in preparation for a course at Oxford on Cosmology Jan 27, Rob rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: puny carbon-based life-forms crawling on this mostly-wet little planet.
Shelves: science , history , evolution , all-time-favorites , A gorgeous book in every possible way. From the lush illustration and clever diagrams clear through to Sagan's lyrical and at times whimsical narrative, this is the science book for non-scientists.
And if you are a scientist, may this be a lesson in how to tell your story. Sagan makes the astronomy and the math and the mind-boggling complexity of the universe not only comprehensible but palatable. He wraps up our history as a species into the history of the universe such that we can even know A gorgeous book in every possible way.
He wraps up our history as a species into the history of the universe such that we can even know it. As a kid, I adored this book for the color plates. I would flip the pages in my Dad's copy over and over and over again. Down on the floor, on the couch -- anywhere. Probably every day from ages four through seventeen.
I didn't go on to be an astronomer. Hell, I never took a physics class and I nearly failed more than one math class as I recall but this book Reading it cover-to-cover for the first time as an adult, I was struck by many things.
The book is dense but Sagan paces it well, makes you hungry for every anecdote about Kepler or Pythagoras, thirsty for the decimal-laden scientific notation. And then there was the moment that blew my mind; tucked away in a footnote about telescopic "snapshots" of galaxies The near side of a galaxy is tens of thousands of light-years closer to us than the far side; thus we see the front as it was tens of thousands of years before the back.
But typical events in galactic dynamics occupy tens of millions of years, so the error in thinking of an image of a galaxy as frozen in one moment of time is small. This is the closest I have ever been to love.
This book is not only a huge source of knowledge for those looking forward to getting enthralled into the science of cosmos, but also one that I know has a special meaning for some people out there.
Both of the before mentioned apply to me, but why do I say it has a special meaning? Well, as simple as it may sound, this book was what took me to where I am right now. There has always been magic for me.
As a kid, I always believed in everything everyone This is the closest I have ever been to love. As a kid, I always believed in everything everyone else seemed to despise and so it was my faith that my parents even got to think that I was crazy.
First, there were these magical creatures: faeries, mermaids, goblins, wizards, etc. Then something even better and more magical came to my life: science. Now you may be thinking, okay, but science is a wide subject, what part of science? And I will answer you: why do I have to choose from it when I can learn from all of it? Science is connected to everything in ways that some of us have never imagined. If we talk about science, we must think of it as the most important discovery in the history of humanity, of art, religion, music, and beauty in its fullest expression.
Imagine yourself as a 6-year old kid. You are in the countryside, separated from any sound or human contact, and the only light is the one that comes from the starts you are currently watching.
You feel happy about your loneliness. Suddenly the stars are passing by, leaving a blur of light on their tray and you wonder how some stars can move and fall while others keep doing their job, brightening everything around you. You go to sleep. Next morning you wake up and go directly to the nearest library, you ask for books of stars, but the librarian tells you she has none and instead she gives you a physics, religion and art books, what a disappointment you think.
The hours passed by, and by the end of the day, you realized how much you have learned, not only about physics and stars but also about religion, math, and arts. As I said before, there is no way of reviewing this book correctly.
Apr 27, Deb rated it did not like it Recommends it for: No One. Shelves: theology , science. This book was my bible when I was an enemy of God. As a stubbornly devout atheist, this was the book I turned to for justification of my proud and arrogant rejection of my Creator. Instead of reading this pile of conjecture, I recommend reading the Holy Bible then get on your knees and repent before the holy God who gave you life and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for your lawlessness and sin.
View all comments. Jan 28, Melissa Palumbos rated it it was amazing. One of the greatest books on understanding the universe and our place in it. Moving and mesmerizing. No book has been more effective in making me appreciate existence. Jun 17, Shahad takleef rated it it was amazing.
The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this shore, we've learned most of what we know. Recently, we've waded a little way out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting.
Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return and we can. We're made of starstuff i don't think i'll ever give 5 stars more wholeheartedly as i am doing now.. The name may have seemed a bit familiar , but nothing more Now , this name feels too meaningful , i'd remember this man's words , his deep voice discussing the formations of the stars and their decay and deaths , i'd surly remember the passion in his eyes in the parallel Cosmos TV show , the way he pronounces B illions and B illions stressing on the B or the way he says "we are made of starstuff" with too much longing.
I feel too ashamed that i am 22 years living in this world and its only now that i read this book , Cosmos wasn't only about astronomy , but philosophy , biology and a big deal of history all written very beautifully you will enjoy every bit , i started to love radio waves , Phythagorean laws and things of this sort that i may have considered dry and lifeless in my school years.
The question about extraterrestial life remains a puzzle , but exploring the problem is a fascinating journey in itself. I am not an expert on natural science , a mere starter , but it was easy for me to read , so i think carl sagan's books are gems of some sort , they are the bridge between scientists and common people , they are written for us , we who love the stars and crave to understand them yet we are no scientists or experts our selves.
I am officaily recommending this book for every human being , its a thing every soul should read. It is a world among an immensity of others.
It may be significant only for us. The Earth is our home, our parent. Our kind of life arose and evolved here. The human species is coming of age here. It is on this world that we developed our passion for exploring the Cosmos, and it is here that we are, in some pain and with no guarantees, working out our destiny " "There will be no humans elsewhere. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another" Warning! Advice : read the book with some cosmic music , it will feel magical and out of the world.
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere. It is by no means the only place. It is not even a typical place. No planet or star or galaxy can be typical, because the Cosmos is mostly empty. The only typical place is within the vast, cold, universal vacuum, the everlasting night of intergalactic space, a place so strange and desolate that, by comparison, planets and stars and galaxies seem achingly rare and lovely.
In everyday life such odds are called compelling. I can imagine creatures evolving into glimmerings of knowledge on innumerable worlds, every one of them assuming at first their puny planet and paltry few suns to be all that is.
We grow up in isolation. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the Earth. I yield freely to the sacred frenzy. Nature is not entirely unpredictable; there are rules even she must obey. The same rocket boosters used to launch probes to the planets are poised to send nuclear warheads to the nations. The radioactive power sources on Viking and Voyager derive from the same technology that makes nuclear weapons.
The radio and radar techniques employed to track and guide ballistic missiles and defend against attack are also used to monitor and command the spacecraft on the planets and to listen for signals from civilizations near other stars. If we use these technologies to destroy ourselves, we surely will venture no more to the planets and the stars. But the converse is also true. If we continue to the planets and the stars, our chauvinisms will be shaken further. We will gain a cosmic perspective.
We will recognize that our explorations can be carried out only on behalf of all the people of the planet Earth The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of pages and is available in Mass Market Paperback format. The main characters of this science, non fiction story are ,. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator. We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you.
Some of the techniques listed in Cosmos may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them. DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url. John Tinget Indian as Tinget Indian. Bob Hevelone Fourier as Fourier. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan is host and narrator of this hour series that originally aired on Public Broadcasting Stations in the United States.
Sagan describes the universe in a way that appeals to a mass audience, by using Earth as a reference point, by speaking in terms intelligible to non-scientific people, by relating the exploration of space to that of the Earth by pioneers of old, and by citing such Earth legends as the Library of Alexandria as metaphors for space-related future events. Among Dr. Sagan's favorite topics are the origins of life, the search for life on Mars, the infernal composition of the atmosphere of Venus and a warning about a similar effect taking place on Earth due to global pollution and the "greenhouse effect", the lives of stars, interstellar travel and the effects of attaining the speed of light, the danger of mankind technologically self-destructing, and the search, using radio technology, for intelligent life in deep space.
Add content advisory. Did you know Edit. Trivia The series featured the most extensive use of special effects ever conducted for a documentary. In one notable episode, special effects were used to make it seem as if host Sagan was walking through a model recreation of the Library of Alexandria. Quotes Carl Sagan : The cosmos is also within us, we're made of star-stuff. Alternate versions For video release in the mids, an additional episode of this series was created, consisting of a one-on-one interview between Carl Sagan and media mogul Ted Turner , discussing the themes of the series.
Connections Featured in Miracle Mile User reviews 62 Review. Top review. A series that can literally engineer dreams. I was always fascinated by the documentaries created by public television after my experience with Cosmos, Carl Sagans gift to humanity.
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