Today we celebrate the life of one of the most loved astronomers of the 20th Century. Carl Sagan was born on this day in 1934, and died of cancer on December 20th 1996. He died before seeing his science fiction novel, Contact in the theatres, but was very involved with its making until he died.
Almost everyone interested in science of my generation has come across Carl Sagan. His TV documentary series Cosmos, made a positive impact to many people, and taught many people about astronomy, and science in general. Carl Sagan took us on a wonderful journey of knowledge and discovery from the Solar System to the Big Bang and beyond...
But Carl Sagan was also the founder of the Planetary Society, he was the inspiration for SETI, he worked on various projects for NASA, he wrote over 600 scientific papers on astronomy, he wrote a number of books on astronomy and science...
His best book, in my opinion, is "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark". Here he talks about science, about the scientific method, about pseudoscience, and more. He exposes the lies of astrology and similar, and talks about scientific investigations, and the scientific method.
Today is not just a celebration of the life of Carl Sagan. Today is a celebration of his legacy, and his legacy is science. Promote science, skepticism, rationality...
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