Author Archive for Bryan H
Carl Sagan is Dead. Long Live Carl Sagan!
Zane Selvans is an admitted Amatuer Earthling, and is happy to share his thoughts and explorations on what it means to be a member of the adolescent human species. He lives in California, is both a scientist and a cyclist and wrote this exceptional essay that in part discuses two things — 1) how he came to appreciate that the death of Carl Sagan and the corresponding dearth of new works by the deceased scientist ultimately means its up to us to move the conversation forward, and 2) how ‘joyful and persistent understanding’ are, in the words of Nietzsche, our, “highest and most proper metaphysical,” purpose. Enjoy.
Before I finished Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age in the Salt Lake City airport Monday, I found a book by Carl Sagan in the bookstore. “The Varieties of Scientific Experience”, based on his Gifford Lectures from 1985 (and published posthumously, in 2006 by Ann Druyan). I read half of it in the airport, and the other half last night. It went fast, because I’d heard it all before. The main piece of new information was that a decade and a half after the fact, Carl Sagan is truly dead to me. I’ve read most of his books, I’ve seen his television series Cosmos several times. I love his ideas; they’ve shaped me throughout my life, but I no longer hope to find anything new in them. So long as there were pieces of his mind that had been recorded, but that I hadn’t yet been exposed to, it was as if he wasn’t quite gone. He was still, from my point of view, a dynamic entity.
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Doctor Tony Prescribes a Healthy Dose of Idealism and Carl Sagan
Frustrated the modern cultural fixation on cynicism? So is Tony. That is why he’s glad that he’s found Carl Sagan. Check out this post he wrote for his blog, Your Daily Dose of Vitamin T.
I get so tired of cynicism, even in myself. It’s so easy to say that we’re going to, as a species, kill ourselves off, destroy the world, all of that, and I’ll admit that I subscribe to that view myself sometimes when I run into the truly stupid members of our species. That’s why, when I discovered Carl Sagan, a man who was absolutely brilliant and so obviously hopeful for us… it warmed the baseball-glove-sized radiator that I use for a heart.
Calling all crafty-types
Hello fans of Carl Sagan. I’m working on post about Sagan related arts / crafts and I’d like your help. If you or anyone you know makes Sagan related things, please fill out this form and let me know. Thanks. Bryan.
The Symphony Continues
Back with the fourth installment of his Symphony of Science, John Boswell turns the focus from the cosmos to biology. This movement features Jane Goodall, David Attenborough and of course Carl Sagan.
Check it out! And also check out the new Symphony of Science website. It’s great.
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Welcome to the New Celebrating Sagan
Thanks for visiting the new Celebrating Sagan.
Take a minute to look around. You’ll notice that a lot of things remain the same, but you’ll also notice some new elements. It should now be easier to find content, comment and submit your own memories of Dr. Sagan.
