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Pale Blue Dot
  
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Pale Blue Dot [Audiobook] [Unabridged] (Audio Cassette)

by Carl Sagan (Author, Reader)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

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Product Description

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.
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Customer Reviews

46 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (46 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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
By Peter Mcguinness "pmcguinness" (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Pale Blue Dot (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:
5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out!, Feb 5 2002
By "morton213" (Berea, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (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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5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy and cosmology at its best, Dec 7 2003
This review is from: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (Paperback)
Pale Blue Dot is probably one of the best introductions to astronomy available to the public. In this book Dr. Sagan argues against human chauvinism, praises international efforts of space exploration, speculates about the future of human animal, describes evolution of science and much, much more.

The book is printed on high-quality glossy stock paper that makes the reading even more enjoyable. Unlike Cosmos, Dr. Sagan's other book on astronomy, photos in this book correspond perfectly to the text you are reading. Most photos were taken from NASA archives and are of best quality and resolutions available to human kind at the time. The book ,as any other book written on astronomy, is becoming outdated a bit (published in 1994). This ,however, should not sway you from reading this book at all. You can always catch up on new developments on NASA site. There were some new developments in space exploration that Sagan had no way of predicting. I'll give one example. Author writes about the largest moons of Saturn, Titan, and speculates about its surface and composition. It is now known that Titan contains methane seas. So every time you see speculations in book make sure you research on the topic to find newer information that is readily available.

There is one more thing. In Pale Blue Dot, author gives detailed information on most of the nine planets and many of their moons. However, Sagan decides to omit detailed information on planet Jupiter from Voyager 1 and 2 encounters (not Jovian moons) and explains that Jupiter was talked about in Cosmos.

My whine aside, Pale Blue Dot will endure.

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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 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

4.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious, flawed, worthy
It's hard to believe that seven years have passed since this book was published, and there's still disagreement about where it belongs. Read more
Published on Nov 13 2001 by Brian Tung

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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