1934-1996

Dr. Carl Edward Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University.  He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft expeditions to the planets, for which he received the NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and (twice) for Distinguished Public Service. Once a research assistant of the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist H. J. Muller, his continuing research on the origin of life began in the 1950s.  The Masursky Award from the American Astronomical Society cites "his extraordinary contributions to the development of planetary science... As a scientist trained in both astronomy and biology, Dr. Sagan has made seminal contributions to the study of planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, the history of the Earth, and exobiology.  Many of the most productive planetary scientists working today are his present and former students and associates."

His book Cosmos (accompanying his Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning television series of the same name) was the best-selling science book ever published in the English language.  His novel Contact became a major motion picture (Warner Bros.). Co-founder and President of The Planetary Society, he served as Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.  Dr. Sagan has received the Pulitzer Prize, the Oersted Medal, and many other awards - including eighteen honorary degrees from American colleges and universities - for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment.

• Carl Sagan & Jonathon Norton Leonard & The editors of Life. Planets. New York: Time, Inc., 1966.

• Carl Sagan and I.S. Shklovskii Intelligent Life in the Universe New York: Random House, 1966.

• Carl Sagan ed. Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1973.

• Carl Sagan. The Cosmic Connection. An Extraterrestrial Perspective. New York: Doubleday, 1973.

• Carl Sagan et. al. Mars and the Mind of Man. New York: Harper & Row, 1973.

• Carl Sagan. Other Worlds. New York: Bantam Books, 1975.

• Car Sagan. UFOs: A Scientific Debate. 1974.

• Carl Sagan. The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. New York: Random House, 1977.

• Carl Sagan et. al. Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record. New York: Random House,

• 1977.

• Carl Sagan. Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. New York: Random House, 1979.

• Carl Sagan. Cosmos. New York: Random House, 1980. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. Comet. New York: Random House, 1985.

• Carl Sagan. Contact: A Novel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.

• Carl Sagan et. al. The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985.

• Carl Sagan and Richard Turco. A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race. New York: Random House, 1990.

• Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for who we are. New York:

• Random House, 1992.

• Carl Sagan. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. New York: Random House, 1994.

• Carl Sagan. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. New York: Random House, 1996.

• Carl Sagan. Billions and Billions : Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. New York: Random House, 1997.

Courtesy of Paul Chui

Back to Dedication Page
Return to Paradigm Research Group