Hardcover
$32.22

Paperback
$11.99

Your audiobook is waiting!

Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.

Learn more about membership

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

List Price: $25.00

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Carl Sagan (Author), LeVar Burton (Narrator), Seth MacFarlane (Narrator),

4.7 7,194 ratings

in Cosmology

See all formats and editions

Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. Try again.

RETURNING TO TELEVISION AS AN ALL-NEW MINISERIES ON FOX

Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to venture into the vast ocean of space. Cosmos retraces the fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution that have transformed matter into consciousness, exploring such topics as the origin of life, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, spacecraft missions, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies, and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science.

Praise for Cosmos

“Magnificent... With a lyrical literary style, and a range that touches almost all aspects of human knowledge, Cosmos often seems too good to be true.” - The Plain Dealer

“Sagan is an astronomer with one eye on the stars, another on history, and a third - his mind’s - on the human condition.” - Newsday

“Brilliant in its scope and provocative in its suggestions...shimmers with a sense of wonder.” - The Miami Herald

“Sagan dazzles the mind with the miracle of our survival, framed by the stately galaxies of space.” - Cosmopolitan

“Enticing...iridescent...imaginatively illustrated.” - The New York Times Book Review

Listening Length

14 hours and 31 minutes
Author

Carl Sagan
Narrator

LeVar Burton, see all
Audible release date

May 30, 2017
Language

English
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
ASIN

B06XTYCPST
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

People who viewed this also viewed

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

People who bought this also bought

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Related to this topic

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

7,194 global ratings

Zero tolerance for fake reviews

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Breakfast Winner

Should be mandated reading

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2012

Verified Purchase

You don't expect someone whose obvious forte is mathematics and science to be a fantastic writer to boot, but Carl Sagan writes beautifully indeed. I'll try to make this review as useful as possible. The subject matter varies between chapters, with some of them more scientifically dense (and therefore fascinating) and others are historically informative. Here is a basic topic of chapters (not in order):
-A chapter putting into perspective how little we know and how many wondrous things there are yet to discover about our existence
-A chapter on Venus, among other planets and bodies, within our solar system along with musings on why it is habitable or not
-A chapter on Mars and everything it has meant to us and was discovered to be like
-A chapter devoted to the very first scientific awakening of our race
-A chapter that addresses the likelihood of communication with other intelligent life
These are just a couple of the chapters. You'll learn about how, scientist by scientist, we amassed the information and knowledge we have to date, and the magnitude and elegance of each of their respective contributions. Carl will teach you about the laws of the universe that everything in it obeys You'll learn not just elementary facts about the planets in our solar system, but the "how" and "why" behind their characteristics and attributes. You will be brought to edge of human knowledge and made to look out into the vast wealth of information left to acquire. You will finish this book with a sense of profound curiosity, deep respect, tremendous awe, and quiet humility.

Every chapter has a very nice structure to it, following the same basic template: Ask a question or pose a problem, explain, conclude with a look forward. He never leaves anything unfinished or any stone unturned, so you never get the sense of abrupt subject change. Each chapter is intended to be treated as individual, and so it can be likened to a sentence, ending definitively and conclusively with a period. The reviewer that said this is disorganized is being too obsessive and completely missing the point. The book itself is more of a collection of thought-provoking topics than it is some sort of fictional story meant to "flow". If this is what you are seeking, I suggest going back to fiction. It honestly makes the book easier to read the way Sagan structured it.

If you are a religious person and are nervous that his atheism might somehow offend you, I assure you that he is never arrogant, confrontational, or mocking. He is simply a humanist, and is looking only to impart upon his audience a true understanding of how beautiful our existence and the science behind it is. Not only does he deliver facts, but he successfully enlightens you. I can honestly say this is the most profoundly educational book I have ever read. I have never learned so much in just one book. I feel not just more educated and knowledgeable, but wiser as a human. He only tries to dispel the hold that superstition has had and the darkness of ignorance that has haunted us throughout our history. He leaves you to believe whatever you want to believe, while making sure you never make the mistake of attributing truly scientific processes to magic. You may even find a better reason to feel spiritually in touch with our human identity and the meaning of life. That's all up to you how you interpret this, but this is beautiful education and enlightenment, not an offensive attack on anything or anyone.

He is a beautiful writer and sometimes, I was blown away by the flow of his words. There were some sentences that were as musical and intricately beautiful as symphony. He is truly a loss to our race, both for his knowledge and his perspective. His is the hand that waves away the smoke, clearing that which is otherwise in plain sight for everyone to see. Do recommend. Would make it compulsory reading if I was a dictator.

29 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nichanan Kesonpat

A true pleasure and eye-opener

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

What a privilege and joy it was to have read this book. I made my way through it rather slowly because it was so packed full of historical anecdotes, scientific findings, and thought-provoking insights that I needed a break every chapter or so to let ideas mentally sink in. In 13 chapters, Dr Sagan gives us a glimpse into all scales of space and time. From the Big Bang to the formation of the stars and the Earth, through the painstaking evolutionary process that resulted in human beings, to millenia beyond our time where interstellar travel may be a viable means of commute. From quarks to complex molecules to planets, supernovae and black holes, to the idea of an infinite hierarchy of universes, all nested within one another.

This book is far beyond an ordinary astronomy general interest read. Its contents incorporate genetics, ancient history, chemical biology, sociology, religion, human psychology and philosophy... Dr Sagan weaves these realms together in the context of the Cosmos, and raises intriguing questions about hypothetical alternate turn of events as well as where we (humankind) go from here. He pays homage to the brilliant minds whose work and courage has contributed to our current technical capabilities. From Erastosthenes' astute calculation of the Earth's circumference, to Kepler’s observations, to Einstein's special theory of relativity (and those in between: Huygens, Brahe, Newton, Champollion etc.), Sagan not only highlights their contribution, but discusses the societal circumstances that these individuals found themselves in. In doing so, he invokes a scrutiny of our current societal climate and behaviors. Are we doing our best to build and maintain a society that values the pursuit of knowledge over one that may eventually crumble under self-destructive greed? Are we investing an adequate amount of resources (both monetary and intellect) on constructive, self-preserving causes? Sagan goes as far as to compare government spendings on military weapons with scientific research funding, and demonstrates how far will have still to go before our loyalties are united not just within nation-states, but as a species of Planet Earth.

Dr Sagan’s intrigues are not limited to Western ways of thinking. Instead, he pays deep respect to the cultures, achievements, and creation myths around the world - this was done through anecdotes from ancient Chinese, Egyptian, and Indian history as well as various tribal accounts. By doing so, he demonstrates that human intrigue has more in common than we may first assume. The early civilizations around the Earth, long before they knew of one another, independently devised theories about how we came to be based on their observations of the heavens. These were passed on to their descendants through subsequent generations ultimately resulting in what we may believe or know of today.

I wonder what Dr Sagan would have thought about the state of the world today… recent election results, SpaceX, virtual reality, artificial intelligence/machine learning, Kepler missions, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, instability in the Middle East, the Higgs Boson… My guess is that he would simultaneously be alarmed that we are STILL arguing whether or not climate change is a problem, and amazed at our technological achievements with the internet and a legitimate goal to visit Mars. I would without a doubt recommend this book to everyone. A scientific degree is not necessary to fully appreciate the lesson and message that this book conveys. Dr Sagan’s literary style is not only comprehensible but so finely depicts his deep passion for the sciences that it is almost poetic. After having read the book, one could truly dwell on what we can do to unify ourselves as citizens of Planet Earth, with a mutual interest of survival, pursuit of interplanetary/interstellar travel and constant discovery of what our universe has to offer.

142 people found this helpful

Helpful