Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996
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Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the now-accepted hypothesis that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to and calculated using the greenhouse effect.
Initially an associate professor at Harvard and later at Cornell, from 1976 to his death, he was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at the latter. Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He wrote many popular science books and narrated and co-wrote the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.
Sagan advocated scientific skeptical inquiry and the scientific method, pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book The Dragons of Eden, and, regarding Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award. He married three times and had five children. After suffering from myelodysplasia, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62, on December 20, 1996.
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correspondedWith | Abell, George O. (George Ogden), 1927-1983 |
correspondedWith | Ackerman, Diane, 1948- |
associatedWith | Adel, Arthur, 1908-1994. |
correspondedWith | Agel, Jerome |
associatedWith | American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
associatedWith | American Astronomical Society. |
associatedWith | American Astronomical Society. Meeting. (1974: Rochester, N.Y.) |
associatedWith | American Astronomical Society. Meeting. (1974: Rochester, N.Y.) |
associatedWith | American Geophysical Union. |
associatedWith | American Movement for World Government. |
Person
Birth 1934-11-09
Death 1996-12-20
Americans
English
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Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996
Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996 | Title |
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