Carl Sagan Appreciation Thread

[Rayn]

not to be a dick, its just that 'invent' is my favorite word in the quote.

 

[NoGodForMe]

Billions and billions and billions.

 

[GreyGhost]

he never said that

 

[Megaera]

Billions and billions and billions.

I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars. It's hard to talk about the Cosmos without using big numbers. I said 'billion' many times on the Cosmos television series, which was seen by a great many people. But I never said 'billions and billions.' For one thing, it's imprecise. How many billions are 'billions and billions'? A few billion? Twenty billion? A hundred billion? 'Billions and billions' is pretty vague... For a while, out of childish pique, I wouldn't utter the phrase, even when asked to. But I've gotten over that. So, for the record, here it goes: 'Billions and billions.'

 

[Rorschach]

Contact was a really good fictional book. I'll check out some others mentioned here.

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl

By far the biggest role model in my life...

I'm by no means going to say he's my mentor, though. That's stupid. Pick someone closer to your generation.

 

[shap73]

Contact was a really good fictional book. I'll check out some others mentioned here.



I'm by no means going to say he's my mentor, though. That's stupid. Pick someone closer to your generation.

Nope, you couldn't be more wrong really. There was a reason his Critical Reason classes at Cornell had a waiting list about half the undergraduate class size. Beyond just writing a couple books and creating Cosmos he was a great professor, who helped set the standard a lot of scientists use today to distinguish legitimate scientific theories and pseudoscience. His methodology of logical reasoning has significantly helped me in Law School. Go have fun sucking 50 cents dick.

 

[Rorschach]

so he personally taught you in/before 1996?

and why would 50 cent be my role model

not trying to troll you here, i just think it's ridiculous someone calls someone they've never met a "role model"

hero? sure.

you're using the wrong word, here.

 

[shap73]

so he personally taught you in/before 1996?

and why would 50 cent be my role model

not trying to troll you here, i just think it's ridiculous someone calls someone they've never met a "role model"

hero? sure.

you're using the wrong word, here.

Okay you are right. The only people that thought Michael Jordan was a role model were people that knew him specifically. Furthermore, all of the kids that looked up to Neil Armstrong and wanted to be astronauts when they were younger needed to actually know an astronaut to legitimately see them as a role model

Maybe I am using the wrong word, but I really don't think so.

edit: Also, I went to Ithaca College (graduated BA Philosophy 09). Since the schools are a 5 min drive away, we were allowed to take a certain number of credits at Cornell just as their students take classes with us. Since the critical reasoning class was so popular, students needed to submit essays in order to enter onto the waiting list. I assume I would have never been able to compete for the limited spots against thousands of Cornell students; however, if Carl was still alive I absolutely would have tried!

 

[loop]

I'm currently reading The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark and it's fantastic. I can't wait to read more Sagan.

That book is my fucking bible.
fuck the shit written by goat herders 4000 years ago - Sagan is the MAN.

 

[bam]

He was a great man.

 

[Noshbomb]

Used to watch Cosmos with my dad when I was a kid. Awesome show. Billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions. hehe

 

[old_skul]

I miss the turtlenecks.

Also: sounds like Kermit the Frog.

And looks like a young Peter Gabriel.

Sagan was a fucking genius. Cosmos, the series, is a wonderful show. For Netflix people: it's on instant watch.

 

[Rorschach]

well if you graduated in '09 shap then you are most likely more a kid than I thought you were, so the role model comment probably fits the bill

still, it sounds weird to hear someone say carl sagan was their role model, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Vee]

no way george bush is way better



stupid liberal socialist nazi hippies

 

[frozen-rain]

stop posting the youtube videos, ive watched every single one and i am trying to post in this thread wtffff

 

[SkivviS]

role model is the right word in this instance, as he strives to imitate his good qualities

whereas a hero is someone that is idolized for what they did or stand for

 

[Makasuro]

Signed

 

[Xionic]

He could take anything scientific, no matter the difficulty, and put it into a perspective that even a child could understand. Truly an amazing man.

 

[Jahoda Duck]

dotted for later read

 

[Heat]

I approve this thread. Cosmos is a must read book.

I think my copy died in a basement flood 15 years ago.