Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan was born in New York City in 1934. Sagan was a noted astronomer whose lifelong passion was searching for intelligent life in the cosmos. Carl Sagan once said, "The significance of a finding that there are other beings who share this universe with us would be absolutely phenomenal, it would be an epochal event in human history." He began researching the origin of life in the 1950’s. He then went on to play a leading role in every major U.S. spacecraft expedition to the planets. He also said, "We have looked close-up at dozens of new worlds. Worlds we never saw before. And unless we are so stupid to destroy ourselves, we are going to be moving out to space in the next century, and if I'm fortunate enough to have played a part in the first preliminary reconnaissance in the solar system, that's a terrifically exciting thing."
Sagan made his mark early with research showing that Venus is scorching hot and Mars is a cold desert. He had the ability to communicate his knowledge about the cosmos.
Sagan hosted a popular television series on PBS called "Cosmos." He published hundreds of scientific papers; wrote eight books, including the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Dragons of Eden", and was a professor of astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In 1994 Carl Sagan came close to death after being diagnosed with blood disease.
Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62 in 1996. Carl Sagan was definitely a gifted storyteller who extolled and explored the grandeur and mystery of the universe in lectures, books and an acclaimed TV series.
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