Customer Reviews

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are two paperback editions of this book at Amazon. The 1995 edition contains the pictures that were so helpful (and entertaining) in the hardcover edition. The 1997 paperback edition has had the photographs removed. If you like beautiful astronomical photographs, order the 1995 edition.

Otherwise, the book is very enjoyable, and provides a cogent discussion of where Carl Sagan thinks we should aim our space program.

I first read this book as a aimless 16-year old kid...now I'm an astrophysicist. It was Sagan's message of faith in science's role as mankind's candle in the dark, as well as his wonder for the universe that infected me, and spurred me to the path I'm on now. If you're not a religious fundamentalist and would like to open your mind to mankind's future in space as well as the wonders that await us in the cosmos, buy this book....or buy it for some teenager you know...

As these pages attest, there are a number of fine writers out there providing us non-scientists with insights on nature's mysteries. None, however, quite reached the breadth of view or intensity of feeling imparted by Carl Sagan. His writings explained topics ranging from quantum particles to the extent of the cosmos. Along the way, he addressed evolution, space engineering and countless other facets of science and technology. Even fiction wasn't beyond his grasp.

Pale Blue Dot is a journey in time and space. Beginning with the assertion that we're natural wanderers, being the only species to settle across our world, it continues with a plea to extend further our exploration of space. The early chapters challenge restrictions on our desire to explore and learn. Sagan demonstrates how foolish minds have restrained our quest for knowledge of the cosmos. He then takes us on a tour of the solar system, exhibiting the wonders revealed by the fleet of robot probes. He reminds us of the forces the cosmos can unleash, sometimes right in our neighbourhood. Like many of the rest of us, Sagan was awed by the collision of a comet with the Jovian gas giant. It was a hint of what might lay in store for us if we fail to understand the universe better than we do now. The space probes also returned images of worlds invalidating existing theories of planetary formation. If our own neighbours can present such bizarre structures, what kinds of worlds ride beyond our ken, circling suns we can barely imagine? What Sagan can't portray, he can conjecture. With his firm working scientist's foundation, Sagan's speculations command respectful attention.

This book must be shelved alongside Richard Dawkins THE SELFISH GENE and THE BLIND WATCHMAKER. Together, these three fine works confront the traditional Western view of a universe and the life in it resulting from a Designer. From Dawkins' biological analysis to Sagan's cosmological view, this obstructionist outlook is here rendered groundless. More people must read Pale Blue Dot to gain an idea of who we are and where we stand in the vastness of a nearly limitless universe. Please read this book and convey its ideas to others. There is much to be gained from its imparted wisdom.

First, I must say that I am enjoying the book very much. I love reading Professor Sagan's books very much. So this rating applies more to the decision of the publisher than the book itself.

I have never written a review on Amazon before, and I have been coming here for years. I had to say something about this. After I finish this, I plan on emailing the publisher with the same review.

Wow. A book named Pale Blue Dot, inspired by the famous photograph of the Earth of the same name. It is referenced in the first few chapters heavily and Prof. Sagan asks us to visit and revisit the photo several times as he builds his introduction. I think to myself "Great! Can't wait to see it. Now where is it?" This then led to the disappointing finding that there are no pictures at all in this printing. None, not one, not even just the one of the Pale Blue Dot image itself. How can you publish a book inspired by a photo and not include the picture itself, not even a low res poorly printed picture? All you get is a few instructions to look at it, but you won't be able to look at it in here. Apparently, the hardback and first soft-back printing had photos. I guess I can understand (not like, mind you) why the decision was made to eliminate photos, but to get rid of the Pale Blue Dot photo is mind boggling. Surely this decision couldn't have been made on purpose. Surely, this was just an oversight. If this was a conscious decision, then it speaks volumes about how Ballantine views this work and it makes you wonder if they have any idea why it was written in the first place.

Anyway thanks for listening.

He never says it. But it's a sequel, par excellence, to the classic _Cosmos_.

Sequels are usually disappointing. This is one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than the original. I had read this book in hardcover and ended up buying my own paperback copy while in Ithaca (Sagan's hometown) because I had nothing to read and a long ride back home.

I'm a fan of Sagan - can't help it - because even though he's a brilliant scientist, he somehow manages to be a great writer as well. This book is no exception. Sagan's basic idea is that the destiny of humanity is to expand out to the stars. And even though this idea reeks with echoes of Manifest Destiny, I have to agree. In Manifest Destiny, there were Indians - here, no intelligent life that we know of. And if there is something out there, wouldn't we want to know about it?

Like so many great works of popular science, Sagan starts out by tracing the changes in our views of the world, from our conceit that we were the center of the Universe to the backwater position that we're in today. Sagan's idea of generalized chauvinisms comes up - first in place (the obvious), then in time (if there was other intelligent life, it's not around any more), and, if I recall correctly, in chemical basis (life must be made out of carbon). He refutes all these ideas - and why not? Who said that silicon can't conquer the universe?

My personal favorite part of the book is Chapter 5, "Is There Intelligent Life On Earth?" Sagan asks us to "[imagine yourself as] an alien explorer entering the Solar system after a long journey through the blackness of interstellar space". As we examine the Earth at finer and finer resolution, what do we see? I won't tell you - it's a bit unexpected - but the answer will surprise you. Who said scientists can't be humorous?

A large portion of the book surveys the prospects of life elsewhere in the Solar System - Venus, Mars, Io, and Titan (but, surprisingly, not Europa) figure prominently. (Sagan did research on Titan tholins, precursors to organic molecules found on Titan.) It's interesting - maybe a bit out of place in Sagan's overall idea, but who cares?

So why don't we leave Earth? Why are we still stuck on this pale blue dot? The politicians, says Sagan. They don't see far enough into the future - all they care about is their own re-election. And it's even too far for normal humans to see, sometimes. But it's worth it - evolution demands that we adapt.

Near the end, we find this passage:

"It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very much like us, but with more of our strengths and fewer of our weaknesses, a species returned to circumstances more like those for which it was originally evolved, more confident, farseeing, capable, and prudent - the sorts of beings we would want to represent us in a Universe that, for all we know, is filled with species much older, much more powerful, and very different." (p. 329) Perhaps this illustrates the inspirational quality of Sagan's writing. So why are we still here?

As I write this review, scientists around the world are in one more tizzy about whether Pluto is a planet, and exactly what a planet is.
They are missing the boat, or spaceship as it were. Pick up a copy of Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot," and it becomes clearer. Just take the much longer view, courtesy of Sagan's vivid and creative mind.

No matter how many times I read it, the look back at our solar system by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990 stimulates my imagination in a huge way. After passing the orbit of Pluto and visiting Neptune and its spectacular moon Triton,the Voyager 1's camera turned back and took a family portrait of the solar system....caught in a mosaic of 60 pictures, saved on the ship's tape recorder and then slowly, over a period of three months, sent back to big radio telescopes on Earth.
The camera caught not only Earth (the pale blue dot), but also Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Pluo and Mars were too small and Mercury was lost in the glare of the Sun.
Just think, a look back at all of us, from a place I dream of being ---out past the orbit of Neptune/Pluto, but will never get to. It boggles the mind to even estimate how long it will take to get any human to that distant vantage point. But here it is ....a wonderful book which covers this, and so many other space marvels. Buy it and keep it close to your bed for months and months of inspiration.
Earl

Read the opening sequence of the book and see our world as a tiny blue pixel from beyond Neptune's orbit. Try, as Sagan admonishes you to do, to imagine the conflicts fougt and wholesale murder that has been committed to control a fraction of that pixel. You are forced by the very grandeur of the Universe to think beyond your own provincialisms and imagine us as one world, one species, with the capability to go on to something great or destroy ourselves in an instant. This is the most frightening part of Sagan's book to some: Whether we make it or not, is up to us; the Universe won't care one way or another.

Sagan then introduces you to the wonders awaiting us when we move off our dot and explore the solar system and surrounding stars. It's a magnificent journey filled with all the wonders that the cosmos has to offer. From the safety of your easy chair, you can journey to Mars, the moons of Jupiter and the outer planets. A truly worhty sequel to Cosmos.

To the original version of this book I would have certainly given five stars; it is a wonderfully inspiring book, by a man who was not only a fine scientist but a great humanitarian, a man who had worked hard to persuade governments of the danger of 'nuclear winter'. Sagan's astute mind, and his compassion, is brought to bear on his vision of our futures in Pale Blue Dot. This is not a utopian vision, Sagan is certainly cognizant of human frailty and our propensity for violence: "If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom we will surely destroy ourselves." It is, however, ultimately a hopeful vision, and one based largely upon what we know of our universe, the physics underpinning its behaviour. His thinking is thus more than merely speculative. When, however, I received my own paperback version...I found that all the photographs, images, and graphs - an important part of the book, still referenced in the index - had been removed from the text, hence the four stars, not five. These images in the original book had helped to elucidate what we had achieved already, our discoveries of strange new worlds, as well as what the author and others believed we might achieve in the future. The removal of this material, for reasons which I can only guess, is to be regretted. Would Carl Sagan have supported such editing of his work? What do you think?

Sagan's view of our past, present and future relations with space is accessible and enthusiastic. Always looking for life, Sagan explains the criteria that might indicate life on earth to a prospecting alien and applies the principles to data from other planetary bodies.

Beautiful color-enhanced space photography and scientific paintings illustrate Sagan's journey through the solar system as he visits each world and describes how speculation and expectation changed with new information from various space probes. Each planet remains shrouded in mystery, however, as Sagan explores the questions that remain as well as those that have been answered.

Along with a thorough look at the planets, moons and asteroids of our system, Sagan fits them into their solar environment, explaining the interactions of sun, gravity, temperatures and atmospheres.

Sagan's conversational style and willingness to speculate makes this thorough, cogent discussion of space program accomplishments and failures, the politics and philosophy of space exploration, and where we might go in the future, an informative treat.

Be aware that the digital Kindle version does not include the pictures and illustrations that are found in the hardcover edition of this book. It's a shame because this would have been a bonus for people who bought and downloaded this version (such as myself) onto their iPads. Why would they not include the pics?!