Cosmos Mass Market Paperback – October 12, 1985

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.

I read this book when it was first published. Although many advancements have been made in the methods of viewing the universe, the content in this book remains relevant. Some answers to our questions have been answered only to lead to more questions. He thought that maybe most stars had planetary systems, and we now know that to be true. The possibility of trillions of planets leads us to believe many now have or have had intelligent beings. I like his books because he writes for the laymen and is easy to understand. It opens our eyes to the many wonders of our universe. It is very educational.

Ruby Seifert
(Vicki)

An old fart now, I read this book when it first came out a BILLION, BILLION years ago. I was young then. We had to slay dinosaurs for food. I was a Marine sergeant at the time and forced my young charges to watch the PBS series once a week on the barrack's TV. They loved it.
In a lot of ways, Carl Sagan shaped my life. I had always been interested in astronomy and cosmology. My first memory as a young child is seeing the Moon in the sky. As a junior in high school biology I read his book "The Cosmic Connection", my first introduction to Sagan. I was hooked.
I recently ordered this edition as a gift. I quickly read through it and was both relieved and dismayed that it hadn't been updated. It appears to be the same book. I was glad that Sagan's words hadn't been (apparently) changed. I do think that Tyson and Druyan might have added chapters that would highlight discoveries made since Sagan's death.
I can't look at a picture of Mars or Jupiter without thinking of Carl Sagan. What would he have thought about the Cassini probe around Saturn, the Titan lander or New Horizons at Pluto? Uranus or Neptune? Or that his children have left the interplanetary domain and are now in interstellar space?
I reordered this book again for moi. Welcome home, Carl.

I also watched the video of Cosmos as I was reading this book to enhance my understanding of the subject. I am very grateful for the author as well as all the people involved in making the series. The book is superbly written, eloquent, educational, persuasive, a plea for knowledge and sanity, desperately lacking in our time of craziness and political and religions fanaticism. While I was reading, I couldn't help but feeling conflicted--finding intelligence and solace in his intelligence and sagacious mind, and then tremendous fear of current state of affairs, repeating destructive history, propelled and justified by political and religious manipulations.

What can you say about this classic that hasn't already been said and possibly over and over at that? For most persons, especially myself, this was their first introduction to Dr. Sagan's work,especially the documentary on P.B.S. which we saw about every time it aired and then when we found out there was a book we rushed to our local library to see if they had it and checked it out and renewed it numerous times! Other than that, it has been VERY difficult to find the original Cosmos in or near our local area. So, when I found this and checked it out to confirm this WAS the first edition I jumped on it! For an entire generation this (the book and the series) was our first and best introduction to astronomy, space exploration and the Universe as a whole and Man's basic place in it from a single, reliable source. Again, what CAN you say about this classic?

Was hoping this book would really help me get a mental grip on how the universe works. He sure gave it a good try, but I guess it's time for me to admit that it's so far over my head that I just ain't ever going to get there. I dropped one rating star due to maybe a little too much astronomy and astrology history, although at least I did understand that part. And also because it is now going on 35 years old, so maybe getting a little dated. I will however, be forever indebted to him for his wonderful PBS TV series which lit in me the desire to learn as much as I'm capable of about the cosmos. Thanks Carl.