Salute to Carl Sagan

[pegkerr]

Interesting essay here commemorating the 10th anniversary of Carl Sagan's death, and all he had to teach us.

Ten years ago today, I was muddling through this new thing called online news at MSNBC - while just a few miles away, at a Seattle cancer center, one of science's most eloquent spokesmen was dying. At the time, astronomer Carl Sagan's death was another blip on the news screen. But since then, his influence has, if anything, grown for me and for others - as evidenced by the outpouring of reminiscences on this 10th anniversary.

Many commentators have touched upon Sagan's legacy for scientific skeptics - for example, the idea that in this "demon-haunted world," extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, whether those claims relate to the existence of extraterrestrials or the existence of God. Not so many have addressed his legacy for believers. And that's what I'd like to touch on here. Read more.

Comments

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of Mr. Sagan's for a long time. It may sound strange, but the feeling I get when I think of him is similar to how I feel when I think of Fred Rogers. I think they had the same kind of outlook on life, despite their very different spiritual beliefs (or lack of them).

Ten years later, he's still very much missed.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I think that is a good comparison, actually. They both struck me as having a grounded optimism in the good that humanity could do.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they ever met. I'm positive they would have liked each other immensely.