squeezedlemon:

Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan looking lovely together

(Source: atomosandentropy, via wildlydistorted)

fyeahcarlsagan:

mywildloves:

astrotastic:

project-argus:

I admit, while portrayals of him in saintly positions are funny and cute (I own the teefury shirt), when there get to be too many of them I get a little worried.  The creation of the term “Saganite” is especially telling of the following, and I don’t like that term.  

Most of all, I should find it educational to see where he was wrong in his predictions or reasoning, enriching to know the flaws in his personality, yet admire his energy and message and intentions and impact.  This is reminder to myself, and this goes for any admired figure.

Carl isn’t a god but dammit he’s a superhero in my book okay

He is someone I greatly admire but I think they’re elevating him to a “saintly” position mainly to be ironic.

The comments above always leave me with a mixed feeling. I usually agree with them and then play devil’s advocate with myself because I guess I have a guilty conscience and I feel like Im one of the people they’re talking about. Carl Sagan is a person I have the utmost respect for because he embodies everything that I believe in. The importance of science, education, creativity, wonder, skepticism and always being a hunter of absolute truths. He was flawed though, much like the rest of us. His real life persona was not the lovable Carl Sagan you know from Cosmos with his brown corduroy jackets sitting in that weird, futuristic, for some reason foggy and poorly lit “spaceship of our imagination”. He is not a god or a saint. 

In a world of chaos and insanity though, when you wake up every day and see more and more of our society going to hell and  you wonder, “How did we get to this point? How do we get out of here?”, his voice is a reassuring and a hopeful one. I watch his videos and read his books (or listen to them at my computer at work) and its so refreshing to hear a person say so many things that just make sense. 

Why is it that we always find fault in love?  People are putting this guy on a pedestal because he was one of a kind. There wasnt any other famous scientist that did for humanity what he has done, except maybe for Jane Goodall but unfortunately no one pays attention to her. Publicizing him, by any means whether you want to make a website dedicated to him or call yourself a “Saganite” or whatever, can only be good for society. 

Hmm… Interesting commentary. What do you think?

(Source: altoidyoda, via )

Ellie Arroway (Contact)

(Source: desperatesoles, via )

For those who may have missed it, here is an illuminating glimpse into the life of perhaps the most inspirational scientist of all time, Carl Sagan. Michael Shermer begins with a review of Carl’s professional life, and then turns it over to two of Carl Sagan’s biographers, Keay Davidson and William Poundstone, who teach us a little about the man behind the “Cosmos” legend.

Topics discussed include Sagan’s marijuana use, his relationship problems, and the dispute about his theological views (he was an atheist, despite being a self-professed agnostic).

It’s a long one, but certainly worth your time!

(via wildlydistorted)

and during the introduction, you feel like Ann Druyan is talking to YOU.

fyeahcarlsagan:

project-argus:

usb-dongle:

usb-dongle:

thefibonaccist:

project-argus:

im1004:

Carl Sagan showing you science can be sexy.

Oh, my.

indeed.

/obscene purring noises

mmmboy

oh look what’s back

the commentary. ahaha.

(via )

usb-dongle:

carlsaganshair:

When hair steals the focus from a yellow and pink patterned tie, you know you have a winner.

(via )

1981 - Carl poses with a model of the Voyager Spacecraft

(via wildlydistorted)

pinkprincess17:

Carl Sagan and Ray Bradbury

(via wildlydistorted)

unbearablevastness:

“I sit surrounded by cartons of mail from people all over the planet who mourn Carl’s loss. Many of them credit him with their awakenings. Some of them say that Carl’s example has inspired them to work for science and reason against the forces of superstition and fundamentalism. These thoughts comfort me and lift me up out of my heartache. They allow me to feel, without resorting to the supernatural, that Carl lives.”
— Ann Druyan, epilogue to Billions and Billions

I am one of those people that credit Carl Sagan with my awakening. He will forever be my greatest inspiration; I seek daily to emulate him in all ways.

(via wildlydistorted)

thewholeblinkingcosmos:

“Perhaps when we look up at the sky at night, near one of those faint pinpoints of light is a world on which someone quite different from us is then glancing idly at a star we call the Sun and entertaining, for just a moment, an outrageous speculation.”

Carl Sagan, Cosmos, page 247

(via iantheastronaut)

tuckthis:

astrotastic:

I was listening to a radio program where Brian Cox and Ann Druyan were talking about Carl Sagan and his achievements and they were talking about the Library of Alexandria, and I finally understood why it’s story is so important

I don’t know why it took me so long to understand

maybe because I was half-asleep when I watched that part of the episode

or I was just too busy visualizing the library itself

but the reason it’s so important to know about it is because there were so few people in charge of this library, the grandest library of the time, the meeting place of cultures, languages, the collective knowledge of people from all over the world.

the citizens weren’t involved very much, if at all, with the things that were being discovered, things that could have changed their lives. they didn’t care - and why should they? Why should they trust the scientists? What had they done for them?

So when the barbarians came to destroy it, no one really cared.

And that’s what Cosmos is about. Getting people to care about how far we’ve come and how far we can go. So we don’t lose everything all over again. So we can make people’s lives easier, more bearable, and increase everyone’s appreciation for science, the continuous endeavor of life, just the universe in general. To get everyone involved in discovering so we actually care about it this time around.

I feel like I’ve been missing out, now that I realize this, but I’m glad I know now.

(via )

fyeahcarlsagan:

dirtglitterunicorns:

My Carl Sagan quote for my graduation cap :)

Of course submissions aren’t working properly, so I reblogged it instead. Nice!!

(via )

Carl Sagan (via rowdymouse)

(via )