Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot

This first video is of Carl speaking to school children about the wonders of the cosmos. Breath-taking and inspiring.



This is an excerpt from the introduction to the novel. Carl's voice with the score in the background turns my blood cold every time!

Before leaping into this book, take a look at the above videos!

Carl Sagan passed away in 1996, only two years after this book was published. For reference, the information in the book is over thirteen years old. Some of it remains on the leading edge, and some of it, notably in developments in robotics and planetary science, is somewhat outdated. Un-phased by the mere passage of time, I dove into the book head first anyway and enjoyed it immensely. It's always easy to catch up on the latest, and it's better to have a foundation of understanding anyway.

Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot challenges everything we accepted about our history, from pre-history to antiquity and Galileo. Opening with a sweeping view of the battle between knowledge and ignorance, Sagan demonstrates clearly that science has finally pushed religion and its darkness aside. Himself an agnostic, Sagan was nevertheless a man of evidence.

He spoke at length about the downsizing of our universe. Long ago mankind was the center of the cosmos. Science forced a shakedown though, showing us that far from being the very reason the universe was created (see the Bible for references) humans are indeed more of a rarity, a chance or spark in the randomness that is life. Far from being the reason the universe was created, it appears that we are just a blip in its existence.

It raises the unanswered question of life elsewhere, which Sagan is certainly able to address. Maybe those who swear to some all mighty Lord laugh and giggle about science dorks imagining life elsewhere. But, again, it's theoretically possible, and from the infinite size* of the universe, it's more than likely.

*Theories regarding the shape and size of the universe are incomplete. Some theorize a boundless expanse beyond our light horizon - we cannot see BEYOND 14 billion light years, it's as if living in a sphere that we cannot physically see outside of because the light has not travelled that far yet. The suggestion is that the universe in fact is infinite. Others suggest a multiverse, where universes exist in an almost layered formation, on top of each other. No conclusive evidence yet!

As you may remember from Contact (also by Carl Sagan), it would be an awful waste of space if there was nothing out there.

Pale Blue Dot did not dwindle on SETI, although Sagan had a large role in its development and its popularity following the hit film Contact. Carl - it's hard not to refer to this man by his first name - examined the findings of NASA's space program, covering the various vessels we have sent throughout our solar system. Specifically, he examines the various features of each of our planets; what makes them unique, similar, and how their study benefits our knowledge on earth.

For example, our current greenhouse effect was discovered by scientists researching similar conditions on Venus. No big deal. Sagan champions Planetary Science in his book, and for good reason. Every small robot or ship we send to other worlds - even if they fail - sends us back data that helps improve our understanding of both our place and the origins of our universe. Carl spends most of these chapters recounting the various journeys of Voyager I and II towards our outer solar system.

Sagan isn't afraid to get his hands dirty with more theoretical concepts either. He examines different methods of colonizing on the planets, from Terraforming to permanent outposts, as well as the possibility of living in asteroids. In fact, the latter option he seems to view as being most likely, using asteroids as vehicles to move entire colonies through space. Looking at the various motivations, precedents and current technologies, Sagan is optimistic in the end.

That is one point which must be elaborated on. Sagan is not science's harbinger of death and destruction (at least not entirely) but shows that scientific exploration and discovery as a beacon of hope, and ultimately the only way to save the human race.

On a cosmic scale, planetary extinction is a certainty. Not perhaps in the history of our species (for comparison, look at climate, every x number of millenia y happens), it only shows how youthful we are, children staring into the black of the cosmos and reaching, hoping to bring it closer. When that frontier is conquered, Carl Sagan will be in the record as a man who brought the stars closer to humanity.

Without a background in the sciences, I found some areas of this book perhaps a little overwhelming, but nothing a second glance or re-read wouldn't address. If you have any interest in space developments - or at this point the history thereof - this book is a blast. Carl Sagan's optimistic outlook is refreshing, his writing is fluid and easy to understand, and more importantly, his humility shines throughout. Too often is the case in scientific writing where knowledge and experience lead only to hubris.