Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon
Today is the 10th anniversary of Carl Sagan's death, and hence an apt time for a blog-a-thon devoted to his memory.
Sagan's gift was to inspire science-minded people of all ages, especially kids. As an elementary-school student, I watched the TV series Cosmos on many afternoons, thrilled to see how science simultaneously applied in everyday life and touched the deepest mysteries of the Universe. The notion that the mundane and the profound are not so separate remains deeply meaningful to me.
How many kids decided to become scientists at least partly because of Carl Sagan? I have never seen an estimate, but I suspect it is a sizable number. Sagan filled an important role: The scientific humanist, the defender of learning as a means of elevating the human spirit. He is missed today, for he has no obvious replacement.
I had the opportunity to meet Carl Sagan when I visited Cornell as a high school senior, considering whether or not to attend the school. My dad got a friend of his (a physics professor) to call Sagan's secretary and set up a meeting. I got about 10 minutes of Sagan's time, which seemed like both an eternity and a split second to myself as an awkward 17-year-old. One thing that sticks in my mind from that meeting is that I was amazed at how tall Sagan was. Not that he was a giant, but somehow I had the impression from Cosmos that he was a small guy, perhaps because he looked so gentle and benign and his turtleneck and corduroy blazer. In fact, he was close to 6 feet. I also recall having difficulty thinking of words to say to him, and can barely remember the content of our conversation. But I distinctly remember that for a period of about 2 weeks after that, I would grin involuntarily whenever I thought of that meeting. And I find myself doing it again today as I write about the memory. :-)
So thank you, Carl. You had an influence on me. You ignited the spark in me that seeks the connection between the personal and the cosmic, the body and the mind. The truly human.
Sagan's gift was to inspire science-minded people of all ages, especially kids. As an elementary-school student, I watched the TV series Cosmos on many afternoons, thrilled to see how science simultaneously applied in everyday life and touched the deepest mysteries of the Universe. The notion that the mundane and the profound are not so separate remains deeply meaningful to me.
How many kids decided to become scientists at least partly because of Carl Sagan? I have never seen an estimate, but I suspect it is a sizable number. Sagan filled an important role: The scientific humanist, the defender of learning as a means of elevating the human spirit. He is missed today, for he has no obvious replacement.
I had the opportunity to meet Carl Sagan when I visited Cornell as a high school senior, considering whether or not to attend the school. My dad got a friend of his (a physics professor) to call Sagan's secretary and set up a meeting. I got about 10 minutes of Sagan's time, which seemed like both an eternity and a split second to myself as an awkward 17-year-old. One thing that sticks in my mind from that meeting is that I was amazed at how tall Sagan was. Not that he was a giant, but somehow I had the impression from Cosmos that he was a small guy, perhaps because he looked so gentle and benign and his turtleneck and corduroy blazer. In fact, he was close to 6 feet. I also recall having difficulty thinking of words to say to him, and can barely remember the content of our conversation. But I distinctly remember that for a period of about 2 weeks after that, I would grin involuntarily whenever I thought of that meeting. And I find myself doing it again today as I write about the memory. :-)
So thank you, Carl. You had an influence on me. You ignited the spark in me that seeks the connection between the personal and the cosmic, the body and the mind. The truly human.
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