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Carl Sagan's Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective

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Carl Sagan's "The Cosmic Connection" is an enjoyable and easy-to-read survey of science and astronomy, circa 1973. Sagan's passion for his subjects comes through loud and clear in the essays that comprise this book. Reading this book is a little like watching "Cosmos" -- you're struck by the breadth of Sagan's knowledge and charmed by his imagination and wide-eyed enthusiasm for his topics. Sagan has a flair for making science accessible to the masses. He explores topics such as planetary exploration, the origins of life, and, of course, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Readers who liked "A Brief History of Time" will probably enjoy "The Cosmic Connection." The epilogue, which provides a year 2000 update for many of the chapters, is a valuable addition to this classic book.

While it was first published over twenty five years ago and new scientific knowledge has rendered some of the "facts" and conclusions invalid, this book is still one that will fascinate you. For Sagan's writings are not about the knowledge of the moment but about grand, overwhelming ideas. Known to most people through his television appearances and his popular science books, he was a man with very impressive scientific credentials. A driving force in setting the priorities of planetary probes, his formidable intellect and powers of persuasion helped change the missions in many important ways.
Carl Sagan was a man deeply committed to the scientific method, the rule of reason and the exploration of space. His passion comes through very clearly in these essays, although he never descends to the level of being preachy. Towards the end of his life, he started to grow understandably pessimistic about the continued lack of exploration of the universe beyond the limits of the blue planet. Like so many of us, he is saddened by the lack of a vision that would drive the human race to establish an extraterrestrial presence beyond low Earth orbit.
Other issues that he deals with are the consequences of contact with another civilization and how we may recognize it when it occurs and what our response should be. These are very fundamental questions that the human race should consider. It is hard to imagine any other event that could have a more profound impact on how humans view themselves and their role in the cosmos. I agree with the premise of the Star Trek movie "First Contact", where the first contact with an extraterrestrial unites humanity in a way never before thought possible.
Humans will always continue to examine our place in the grand scheme and what all of the immensity of the universe really means. As long as we continue to produce beings of the caliber of Carl Sagan, our future is a bright one. His intellect and ability to excite were both first rate and I do not know how anyone could read these essays and not be moved by the quality of his reasoning.

Sure this isn't Sagans best book, it was one of his earliest. But its definitely a great read, full of profound thoughts.

The late Carl Sagan was one of the most popular, influential, and successful interpreters of astronomy to the American public. In 1973 he published "The Cosmic Connection". He offered a daring view of the universe and his seminal work became a classic of popular science, inspiring a generation of scientists and non-specialist general readers with an enthusiasm for all aspects of science in general, and astronomy in particular. Now Cambridge University Press has reissued a new edition of Sagan's influential book, enhanced with Freeman Dyson's commentary on Sagan's vision and on the importance of "The Cosmic Connection"; Ann Dryan's assessment of Sagan's cultural significance as a champion of science; and David Morrison's discussion of the advances made over the past 30 years and what became of Sagan's predictions. Carl Sagan's Cosmic Connection is "must" reading for all Sagan fans and anyone interested in how his views and predictions have held up over the past three decades of rapid advances in the science of astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In the May, 1955 issue of _Fantasy & Science Fiction_, Anthony Boucher gave brief attention to the latest cluster of flying saucer books and concluded: "Personally, I'll confess, I collect the damned things and wouldn't miss a word of any of them" (74). Boucher professed to be an agnostic about saucers, neither a True Believer nor a Doubter.

As for myself, I must allign myself with the skeptics. I can find no convincing evidence that we are being visited by aliens in saucers today. Nor can I find any compelling evidence that we were visited in the past by ancient astronauts. Carl Sagan also takes a skeptical position in chapter 28 of _The Cosmic Connection_ (1973), though his reasons are not precisely the same as my own.

Sagan does argue, however, that there _might_ be extraterrestrial life and that we should actively seek it. There is a discussion of _Pioneer 10_ and its message, which Sagan admits was something like a bottle thrown into the ocean by a shipwrecked sailor. There is a chapter on radio telescope programs like S.E.T.I. There is a chapter on dolphins and John Lilly. Sagan is somewhat critical of some of Lilly's work, but he believes that an understanding of dolphins may prepare us for contact with extraterrestrials. What about the possible dangers of contact? Sagan addresses those in chapter 30.

There are several chapters on our changing picture of Venus and Mars as new information comes in. To be sure, some of the observations are now out of date. In regard to Soviet space probes, Sagan says: "The time will come, in not too many years, I think, when we will have our first photographs of the surface of Venus" (90). Venus has now been fairly thoroughly photographed and mapped. But the Venus and Mars chapters still provide good basic information about the modern-day knowledge of those planets.

There are amusing chapters on human chauvinism, teaching a class of first graders, and Sagan's scrapes with Military Intelligence. There are speculative chapters on the night freight to the stars and astroengineering. There are several chapters that give convincing arguments for continuing space exploration. All in all, an excellent book. My one quibble is that there is no bibliography.

This book is a mix of thoughts by Carl Sagan, which he mainly dictated while crossing North America in a car. Well, it shows! It jumps from interesting paragraphs to useless personnal experiences, and the final result is a short text that is confusing, and (but that's not his fault) outdated. Read "Cosmos" and "Pale Blue Dot", they are much better.