Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
1997 • 386 pages
Ratings18
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings18
Average rating4.4
“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
Reviews with the most likes.
“If our long term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds. Sailors on a becalmed sea, we sense the stirring of a breeze.”
First published in 1994, this book contains profound ideas and vision so far ahead of its time.
To be able to read/listen to Carl Sagan's work is a privilege.
Particularly loved the chapter : Is there intelligent life on earth where he describes the signs of life which an alien race could observe by being in earth's orbit. Caught myself smiling deliriously at some of the simplest mentions of the ordinary. But it soon takes an ominous turn.
An excerpt:
“From your orbital perspective, you can see that something has unmistakably gone wrong. The dominant organisms, whoever they are???who have gone to so much trouble to rework the surface???are simultaneously destroying their ozone layer and their forests, eroding their topsoil, and performing massive, uncontrolled experiments on their planet???s climate. Haven???t they noticed what???s happening? Are they oblivious to their fate? Are they unable to work together on behalf of the environment that sustains them all?Perhaps, you think, it???s time to reassess the conjecture that there???s intelligent life on Earth.”
Again, this most definitely should be a required reading in high school.
