Tag Archives: Carl Sagan

What’s So Great About Carl Sagan?

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The other day I was asked “what’s so great about Carl Sagan?” Caught off guard, indecipherable splutters formed the sentence “how much time do you have?”, followed immediately by “I’m sorry, that was rude. What do you know about Sagan?” The response, “he had a TV show about space, Cosmic or something like that”, landed with a thud. Answering “yes he narrated a show called Cosmos”, gave me time to think.

Throughout the brief exchange continuous loops of “what’s so great” played in my head. Feeling disinclined to spew snippets of Sagan’s accomplishments forced me to admit I was annoyed. I heard myself say “Google Carl Sagan’s biography if you want to know the magnitude of his influence, listen to him if you need to know why I consider him a great man”

 

Carl Sagan Explains The 4th Dimension

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A few minutes ago YouTube displayed video of Carl Sagan explaining the 4th dimension on my Home page – well played YouTube! Smitten of late by Neil deGrasse Tyson, pondering the enormity of Sagan’s influence, accomplishments and reason seemed long overdue.

Time magazine called Sagan “America’s most effective salesman of science”. Faint irritation nibbled at the realization I didn’t know how to proceed. Biographical bullet points wouldn’t do, I wanted to impart subtleties of wonder sparked by his influence. Thoughts meandered to his corduroy jacket, an unfortunate fixation that wasn’t making things easier. Then it came to me – Carl Sagan’s reach can be introduced, acknowledged or discovered dependent on individual experience. Rather than fret over conveying my appreciation to a generation untouched by his perceptible impact, it was enough to appreciate contributions by posting his explanation of the 4th dimension.