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

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space | Carl Sagan | Very Interesting Page Turner

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Pale Blue Dot: A V...

	Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space Carl Sagan Ballantine Books, 1997 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 60 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"FASCINATING . . . MEMORABLE . . . REVEALING . . . PERHAPS THE BEST OF CARL SAGAN'S BOOKS."
--The Washington Post Book World (front page review)

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.

"TAKES READERS FAR BEYOND Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity's future in the stars."
--Chicago Tribune

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Carl Sagan, the man speaks for Earth

It's hard to believe Pale Blue Dot has been with me for over 8 years, it is also the 8 year during which I was transformed by the intelligence and wisdom of Dr. Sagan, and of course, his other works Cosmos and The Demon Haunted World become my favorites.

Pale Blue Dot reads like the sequel to Cosmos, but with more focus on our Solar System, and it shows a much more wide perspective than Cosmos, with a theme so haunting and thought-provoking that makes me really think something important even without that famous picture captured billions miles away.

Newspapers, TV coverages is often inundated by slogans like "We only have one Earth", "Save the Earth", we are so familiar with that. But unfortunately, most of us do not quite understand what's truly behind that. And Dr. Sagan tells us all, we are here, in that point of pale light, a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. He starts the book with this humbling revelation.

But with its insignificance, it's also the respiratory of all our potential. We touched moon with the rockets not yet designed when the project started, we explored the whole Planet in the system, our spacecraft hit the comet billions miles away, we healed our Ozone Layer, just as Dr. Sagan says, we are still capable of greatness if we do not destroy ourselves first!(in fact, if we can not handle our fallibility, our specie is hopeless)

Pale Blue Dot is the history of human beings in terms of exploration, the very nature of us. Dr. Sagan perhaps gives hitherto the most precise definition of our species in the book, it's about our inclination toward mistakes, and more importantly, about our potential. We became the first specie on Earth which has the ability to wipe itself out, but don't forget, we are also the first to be able to leave Earth, to explore our future in the vast cosmos, to handle space mountains. That is, according to Dr. Sagan, what we should learn from that blue pixel in the sun beam.

Dr. Sagan passed away in 1996, before I started to read this book. When we confront difficulties, when we are in trouble, I always recall the final chapter of Cosmos, Who speaks for Earth. If not us, who will? As Dr. Sagan says in Pale Blue Dot, "there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves". And still I see that we are making big progress, with the hard work of Al Gore, Bill Gates and others. Everytime I think of that, I can feel that we do learn something from Dr. Sagan, and, as Ann Druyan wrote in the epilogue of Billions and Billions, "They allow me to feel.........that Carl lives."

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Very Interesting Page Turner

Dr. Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot" is very intriguing and of utmost interest to all people who seek intelligent answers to understanding the Universe and our Solar System. Sagan does interweave valid questions in relation to the existence of a creator or God in the text. He does take it to task and pretty much says that a God or creator is unlikely.

"Look back again at the pale blue dot (picture of earth) of the preceding chapter. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Imagine that everything was made for a single shade of that species or gender or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn't strike you as unlikely, pick another dot (another star or planet in the Universe). Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They too cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How serious do you take their claim?"

Sagan reduces religious arguments that persist in the notion that we (humans) are special, the earth is special etc... in a logical and systematic manner to highlight how fallacious this way of thinking really is in light of how miniscule we really are in this vast Universe.

In terms of providing a historical background for scientific discovery and the development of scientific theory throughout history, Sagan does a fine job. The photographs in the book are superb. Nicely written book with many passages you will want to read twice to fully appreciate the eloquence of Dr. Sagan's writing.

Some reviewers may discredit the book and say it is outdated. It was written in 1994. 14 years ago, but by no means ancient mumblings and rambling writings of a scientist from your grandfather's time. Being older myself, 1994 only seems like yesterday. A good book and it is packed with information and intelligent thought processes that will make one view the Universe from the perspective of a scientist.

Dr. of Biological Sciences

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A question unasked

Carl Sagan was an enthusiastic explorer of the universe. His passion for science and for understanding the universe became widely known through his 'Cosmos' television series. In this book he continues describing and exploring the universe- and projecting into its distant future. He does this while attempting also to put the human story in its cosmic place, and in a way diminishing any arrogance we might have. He points out that we live on a minor speck of the universe and the thin layer of earth upon which we live indicates the fragility of our existence. Sagan projects forward to those cosmic events which will eventually put an end to life on earth and considers various ways we might venture out into the universe. He is optimistic about our capacity to begin to inhabit and wander through the universe. However what is clear , and he is quite explicit about this, and this is something which deeply troubles me and limits my own optimism- is his sense that it is not humans as we know them but our ' successors' who will make this exploration. In other words implicit in what Sagan is saying is the idea that mankind is a transitional phase in the whole story of Intelligence and Life both on Earth and the Universe. Sagan is optimistic regarding the distant future and our possible successors. But I must admit that I am stuck with my sense that what I care about most is people- and that 'humanity' is of more value to me than any possible more intelligent 'successor species'.
I in other words am troubled that Sagan does not see the loss of humanity in the future as something which disturbs him.
What will it matter to you and me after all if millions of years from now some kind of 'mind' wanders through the universe without having human feeling and identity?

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Rating the physical book, not the content

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.

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