Carl Sagan

Scientist Carl Sagan, Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University, was born to Jewish parents, Sam and Rachel Sagan. He grew up to be known as an expert astronomer and an atheist. His highly acclaimed television program Cosmos was one thing that gained him enough popularity to be a household world.

Each week, Americans from sea to shining sea, sat in their living rooms and learned the genesis of planet earth, Sagan style. Over and over he told us, that from the beginning of everything to where we are today on this planet took “billions of years.” This fame began for Sagan in 1980, but hasd since run out for Carl Sagan is now deceased. His words, “Billions of years ago,” are not soon forgotten. They remain etched in film (and in our memory banks) to be played over and over on PBS.

In addition to his TV series, Sagan founded the Planetary Society, a space interest group that searches the galaxy for other worlds and extraterrestrial life. He authored several books including, Cosmos (1985) The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1986) The Demon Haunted World: Science As A Candle in the Dark (1997) and Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1998) and he is even said to said to have written works under the pseudonym “Mr. X”.

As a prolific writer with a message for the world about our beginnings and how there was no God, just "Science" Sagan also wrote and produced the 1985 science fiction movie, Contact, a fictional story orchestrated around the human search for and "contact" with extraterrestrial life. Throughout his life, Sagan hoped that perhaps there were civilizations out there, somewhere, anywhere besides our own that could help usmake sense of who were are. He always hoped we would discover them or at least that they would discover us.

Sagan's life’s work was devoted to astronomy and the promotion of "science" and this is reflected in the appreciate of the scientific community who funded the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Cosmos, part of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California in his honor.

As a scientist, as an atheist scientist, Sagan marveled at the intricacy of the universe before his eyes. As a man of Jewish born decent he was known to remark negatively about religion, but this non-religious person did however begin his own writings in his book, Science, A Candle In The Dark with a biblical quote, from Isaiah 59:9. "We look for light, but all is darkness.”

He did see lots of stars in the heavens, billions of them and he loved knowing everything there was to know about them, yet Sagan refused all throughout his life to believe in God. Even so, before he died this man who was quite negative about religion, graciously said publiclly that he was grateful for people who had prayed for him.