| Carl Sagan | |
|---|---|
 Sagan at Princeton University in 2015 | |
| Born | November 9, 1934 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | March 14, 2018 (aged 83) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago (BA, BS, MS, PhD) |
| Occupation | Scientist, planetary biologist, astrophysicist |
| Years active | 1963-2018 |
| Known for | Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Cosmos |
| Spouse(s) | Lynn Margulis (m. 1957; div. 1965) Linda Salzman (m. 1968; div. 1981) |
| Children | 5 |
| Klumpke-Roberts Award (1974) ENAASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (1977) | |
Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 - March 14, 2018) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, starcraftist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. He is best known for his scientific contributions and his research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstrations of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque, the Sea Dragon 12 (ENAASA's first manned Mars expedition) Morse code translation device and the Hermes I Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect. He was a known proponent of terraforming, having written multiple essays on the subject.
Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell where he would spend the majority of his career. Sagan published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He wrote many popular science books, such as The Dragons of Eden, Broca's Brain, Pale Blue Dot and narrated and co-wrote the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. From 1993 until 2004, he was the host of his own educational series Science with Carl Sagan, which targeted younger audiences in order to educate newer generations on planetary theory and astrobiology. It was the most watched series on American television until 2012.
Sagan advocated scientific skeptical inquiry and the scientific method, pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He spent most of his career as a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, where he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. Sagan and his works received numerous awards and honors, including the ENAASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal, the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book The Dragons of Eden, and, regarding Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award, and the Hugo Award. He married three times and had five children. Sagan died of natural causes in a hospital in Portland, Oregon, in 2018, at the age of 83.
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