Carl Sagan. You may know him from his 80’s T.V. show Cosmos, or even his contributions to the Golden Disks put on the Voyager Probes. What you may not know is that he predicted several planet’s atmospheric and physical conditions, helped with the creation of the Pioneer Probe, hyped up science to the public, wrote his own books, and worked at NASA for an astonishing 45 years. Sagan was an astrophysicist, astronomer, astrobiologist, author, T.V. show host, and anti-nuclear bomb activist, among other things.

He was born in Brooklyn, in the year 1934 to Samuel and Rachael Sagan. He showed an early interest in space and the possibility of Extra-Terrestrial life, which he then pursued and achieved degrees in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. He then went on to determining the physical conditions of planets, and S.E.T.I. (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial life). Over the years 1966-2006, he wrote 16 books, starred in two T.V. series, and became a regular on the “Tonight show”, his goal being to popularize science in the eyes of the public. He was a very charismatic and quite passionate about science, but he was a humanitarian as well, and really pushed to preserve the future of not just the planet, but also everyone and everything that had to live on it. He co-wrote a scientific article on the possibility of nuclear winter and was trying to stop global warming before it was even considered a possibility to the average person. This may have been due to his extensive research into studying the climates of other planets, especially Venus, which is an extreme example of what can happen to planets with too many greenhouse gasses in their atmospheres.

I have been intrigued by space sciences since elementary school, and my quest for knowledge on the subject was only increased every time I learned how expansively vast the topic really is. Carl Sagan was the reason I got into space in the first place, when I watched an episode of Cosmos on T.V. when I was younger. When I learned how much he contributed, it only served to impress me more. He wasn’t just a scientist, and he wasn’t just a celebrity, he was both and so much more, but he still managed to keep a level head and continued to push for a better future. He was an anti-nuclear activist during Ronald Reagan’s time as president, pushed for less use of fossil fuels and more alternative energy sources, and even continued his career as an astrophysicist throughout this.

I will be speaking from the perspective of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, someone who was a large part of Carl’s life and could even be considered his successor of sorts. I hope to learn what Carl experienced as a NASA scientist and as a large public figure of science. Carl Sagan lived my dream, and I hope to take a glimpse at my possible future through this experience and hopefully learn a bit more about myself, my career path, and the universe in the process.

Thank you, Carl, and I look forward to our time together.