Carl Sagan biography at QuotationFun

A Short Biography of Carl Sagan

Author Name:

Carl Sagan

Born As:

Carl Edward Sagan

Other Names:

Born:

09 Nov 1934

Died:

20 Dec 1996




author picture
Astronomer, Atheist, Astrochemist and Author                          
Selected works:

Planets - LIFE Science Library -  Jonathon Norton Leonard and editors of Life - Time Inc. - 1966
Intelligent Life in the Universe - I.S. Shklovskii coauthor - Random House - 1966
UFO's: A Scientific Debate - Thornton Page coauthor - Cornell University Press - 1972
Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. MIT Press - 1973
Mars and the Mind of Man - Harper & Row - 1973
Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective - Jerome Agel coauthor - Anchor Press - 1973
Other Worlds - Bantam Books - 1975
Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record -  Random House - 1978
The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence - Ballantine Books - 1978
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. Ballantine Books - 1979
Cosmos - - 1980. Random House New Edition - May 7 - 2002
The Cold and the Dark: The World after Nuclear War - Sidgwick & Jackson - 1985
Comet - Ann Druyan coauthor - Ballantine Books - 1985
Contact. Simon and Schuster - 1985; Reissued August 1997 by Doubleday Books
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God - Ann Druyan editor - 1985 Gifford lectures - Penguin Press - 2006
A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race - Richard Turco coauthor - Random House - 1990
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are - Ann Druyan coauthor - Ballantine Books - October 1993
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. Random House - November 1994

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books - March 1996 - note: the book was first published and copyrighted in 1995 with an errata slip inserted.

Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium - Ann Druyan coauthor - Ballantine Books - June 1997
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God - Ann Druyan, editor - Penguin Press HC - November 2006.                          
Mother Rachel Molly Gruber
Father Samuel Sagan
First wife Lynn Margulis, two children, Dorian and Jeremy.
Second wife Lynn Margulis, one child, Nick.
Third wife Ann Druyan, two children, Alexandra  and  Samuel.                          
Selected Awards:

Oersted Medal - 1990
NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal - twice
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction - 1978
National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal - 1994

Broca's Brain - 1979
Host of 13-part TV documentary 'Cosmos' - 1980
Contact - 1985

Sagan taught a course on critical thinking at Cornell University, until his death in 1996.
Hundreds of students applied each year, only about 20 were chosen to attend each semester.                          
Popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence - SETI.