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Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space [Paperback]

Carl Sagan , Ann Druyan
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Sep 8 1997
"FASCINATING . . . MEMORABLE . . . REVEALING . . . PERHAPS THE BEST OF CARL SAGAN'S BOOKS."
--The Washington Post Book World (front page review)

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.

"TAKES READERS FAR BEYOND Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity's future in the stars."
--Chicago Tribune

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Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space + Cosmos + Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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From Publishers Weekly

In a tour of our solar system, galaxy and beyond, Cornell astronomer Sagan meshes a history of astronomical discovery, a cogent brief for space exploration and an overview of life-from its origins in the oceans to humanity's first emergence to a projected future where humans "terraform" and settle other planets and asteroids, Earth having long been swallowed by the sun. Maintaining that such relocation is inevitable, the author further argues that planetary science is of practical utility, fostering an interdisciplinary approach to looming environmental catastrophes such as "nuclear winter" (lethal cooling of Earth after a nuclear war, a widely accepted prediction first calculated by Sagan in 1982). His exploration of our place in the universe is illustrated with photographs, relief maps and paintings, including high-resolution images made by Voyager 1 and 2, as well as photos taken by the Galileo spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope and satellites orbiting Earth, which show our planet as a pale blue dot. A worthy sequel to Sagan's Cosmos. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Sagan's great appeal as a popular-science writer, beyond his prodigious knowledge, is his optimism and sense of wonder. A visualizer and a visionary, he fires our imagination and turns science into high drama. After writing about our origins in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1992), Sagan turns his attention to outer space and takes up where Cosmos left off 14 years ago. An astonishing amount of information was amassed during that productive era, and Sagan, of course, is up on all of it. A passionate and eloquent advocate of space exploration, he believes that the urge to wander, and the need for a frontier, is intrinsic to our nature, and that this trait is linked to our survival as a species. Throughout this beautifully illustrated, revelatory, and compelling volume, Sagan returns again and again to our need for journeys and quests as well as our unending curiosity about our place in the universe. Such philosophical musings are interwoven with precise and enthusiastic accounts of the triumphs of interplanetary exploration, from the Apollo moon landings to the spectacular findings of robotic missions, especially the Voyager spacecraft. Sagan describes one exciting discovery after another regarding the four giants--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--and their many moons, mysterious and exquisite rings, and volatile atmospheres. He argues, convincingly, that planetary exploration is of immense value. It not only teaches us about our celestial neighbors, but helps us understand and protect Earth. Yes, we have seemingly insurmountable problems on this pale blue dot, but we have always reached for the stars, and we mustn't stop now. Donna Seaman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The spacecraft was a long way from home, beyond the orbit of the outermost planet and high above the ecliptic plane-which is an imaginary flat surface that we can think of as something like a racetrack in which the orbits of the planets are mainly confined. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out! Feb 5 2002
Format:Paperback
There are two paperback editions of this book at Amazon. The 1995 edition contains the pictures that were so helpful (and entertaining) in the hardcover edition. The 1997 paperback edition has had the photographs removed. If you like beautiful astronomical photographs, order the 1995 edition.

Otherwise, the book is very enjoyable, and provides a cogent discussion of where Carl Sagan thinks we should aim our space program.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Reply to a brief comment Jan 21 2004
Format:Paperback
Einstein religious? not at all. I quote from Einstein directly in "The Human Side" Ed. Dukas, Hoffman.

"It was of course a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal god and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it"

As for the issue of whether religious types should fear the scientific worldview; of course they should since organised science and organised religion are incompatible as long as religious leaders continue to claim authority on questions which can be experimentally determined (which is proving to be just about everything).

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious, flawed, worthy Nov 13 2001
Format:Hardcover
It's hard to believe that seven years have passed since this book was published, and there's still disagreement about where it belongs. The conventional wisdom has it that it's the sequel to Cosmos--probably because it's the only the second book (along with the unfairly neglected Comet) Sagan wrote after Cosmos to have much to do with astronomy.

But Pale Blue Dot is only partly about astronomy. In the 15 or so years that separated the two books, Sagan seems to have acquired a much more political perspective on science and exploration, and it finds its way repeatedly into the later book. Time and again, we find ourselves confronted not only with what's out there, but what *should* be out there--and who.

The central motivation behind this book is the observation that manned space exploration has foundered since the end of the Apollo project in the early 1970s, in large part because of the lack of any coherent direction. As Sagan describes throughout the book, robotic exploration can be so successful, with no risk to human life, that we're left wondering what reasons could possibly justify sending people back out into space.

Sagan's proposed justifications might surprise some people who haven't yet read this book. They have little to do with the spirit of exploration (although he surely views that as an ancillary feature), or the need to have on-demand human intelligence at the site of new discoveries.

Rather, he takes a global view of the human species. Provided that we can put our social affairs in proper order, he poses, what are the dangers to humans and civilization? The short-term danger is provided by humans themselves, through their aggressiveness and short-sightedness. Voyager 2's photo of the Earth as a single cerulean pixel, taken from 5 billion kilometers away, is a kind of metaphorical plea for perspective, and the inspiration for the book's title.

Sagan's view of the long-term danger places substantial weight on the asteroid/comet impact risk, the same sort that is understood to have brought about the end of the dinosaurs. It is essential, he asserts, to have humans spread out from Earth--both to perform reconnaissance of possible impactors, and as a way to ensure the continuance of the species, should our home planet be rendered inhospitable (either through external or internal dangers).

Sagan naturally hopes it doesn't come to potential extinction, so the bet is on reconnaissance and defense. And what should we do if an asteroid is discovered to be on a potential collision path? The proposed response, nowadays, is to deflect the asteroid into some other, harmless orbit. But Sagan has a warning for us. He's concerned that this same technology could be used for harm by some madman, by turning it upside-down: deflecting some harmless asteroid into another, cataclysmic orbit.

This concern doesn't ring true for me. Sagan claims that if you can do one, you can do the other, but that's patently false: There are so many more harmless orbits than harmful ones that if your aim is only so-so, deflection is *much* easier than direction. On the other hand, raising the issue for discussion at all is a healthy idea, even if the risk is eventually judged to be minor.

The focus in Pale Blue Dot, then, is not on the science, but the engineering and the politics: How shall we revive the manned space program, what form should it take, how shall we manage it so as not to place too great a strain on human maturity? That's not to say there's no straight science in Pale Blue Dot. Sagan gives an update on the Voyager explorations of the outer solar system, from Saturn to Neptune, as well as the dramatically better picture we have of Venus, due to Magellan. But the emphasis isn't on what we know and how we know it, as it was in Cosmos, but on the behind-the-scenes work on making the science possible. It's notable that Sagan spends quite some time describing the successful efforts of NASA engineers in rescuing the Voyager explorers from mission-endangering faults. It's an inspiring narrative of heroic action--but it's also lobbying.

And perhaps that's the best way to look at it. In this book, Sagan is fighting as hard as he can for the space program, in which he believed, passionately. He is ready to recognize its certain flaws, but he is unabashed in his prejudices. In the end, perhaps not everything he tries works, maybe certain arguments are a reach, but as always, he makes us think, and it's a worthy and valiant addition to the Sagan canon.

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Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Politics, not Science
Make no mistake, just as Sagan reveals his opinion that Apollo 11 was about politics, not science, I tell you that Pale Blue Dot is about politics, not science. Read more
Published on Dec 21 2003 by Tracy Fitzgerald
5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy and cosmology at its best
Pale Blue Dot is probably one of the best introductions to astronomy available to the public. In this book Dr. Read more
Published on Dec 7 2003 by Mr Tough Guy
5.0 out of 5 stars A brief comment
I noticed a few negative reviews that seemed to be more about religion than this book, so I wanted to make one brief comment. Read more
Published on July 17 2003 by magellan
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Sagan Masterpiece
A must read. This somewhat overlooked book is one of Sagans best. The descriptions of findings from the voyager missions, such as data on Neptune and its moons, are hypnotizing. Read more
Published on May 22 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars Want to give it 6 stars
This was the first Sagan-book I read and I was 14 at that time. I can't say I really understood it then, but it simply CHANGED my life. Read more
Published on Nov 2 2001 by "jay_jeong"
5.0 out of 5 stars lovely
Re: "The first couple chapters are filled with the usual Sagan illogical naturalism. I never understood how he could hold to such a [sic] irrational philosphy [sic] and yet... Read more
Published on Oct 31 2001
3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Cosmos
First, as I stated in my title, this book is nowhere near as good as Cosmos. Sagan does not have that flair that makes teh reader feel as if he is reaching out towards the great... Read more
Published on July 27 2001 by "dsrosen19"
3.0 out of 5 stars Pale
Mishmash of material lacks the scope and grandeur of Cosmos. In effect it gives him an opportunity to catch up on about 15 years since Cosmos, but adds little beyond what was... Read more
Published on July 16 2001
4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Vision Dulled.
To the original version of this book I would have certainly given five stars; it is a wonderfully inspiring book, by a man who was not only a fine scientist but a great... Read more
Published on May 24 2001 by R. I. Favell
5.0 out of 5 stars You live here!
As these pages attest, there are a number of fine writers out there providing us non-scientists with insights on nature's mysteries. Read more
Published on Jan 27 2001 by Stephen A. Haines
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