Cosmos Paperback – December 10, 2013

This is my first introduction to Carl Sagan in earnest.What an enjoyable read. The journey through history and also the logic and easy explanations of various concepts was a lot of fun. He was an excellent author and I’d like to read more.

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.

Well written

I read this book when it came out in 1980, in hard cover version. I was a 14 year-old-boy and I think I reread Cosmos, partly because of sentimental reasons I remember a lot of nice photo's and clear graphics. The Kindle version I just finished only has a couple of simple graphics but I knew that before I bought the Kindle version ... so no complaining.The book is more than 30 years old and since then science did not stop. The first space shuttle was launched in 1981, the last one in 2011. Since 2012 you can make your "personal spaceflight" (development of Space tourism). In 1986 the Voyager 2 was launched to explore Uranus and Neptune. and in 2006 and 2007 the space probes New Horizons and Dawn left Earth, the first to explore Pluto and one or more of the other Kuiper belt objects and the later with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres.Among others space probes where launched by the Russians (especially to Venus), Japan (to the Comet Halley flyby), and in 1966 the U.S. Mars Pathfinder, a Mars lander with the first planetary rover took off. Also the European Union started space exploration with the Venus Express in 2005. In the mean while, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) did some amazing research. The telescope is operating as of 2016, and could last until 2030–2040. Its scientific successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), is scheduled for launch in 2018.So without doubt Carl Sagan's book Cosmos is dated but is still worth reading. Some quotes are still reveling:- "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff."- "The study of the galaxies reveals a universal order and beauty. It also shows us chaotic violence on a scale hitherto undreamed of. That we live in a universe which permits life is remarkable. That we live in one which destroys galaxies and stars and worlds is also remarkable. The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such puny creatures as we."- "We humans, as a species, are interested in communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Would not a good beginning be improved communication with terrestrial intelligence, with other human beings of different cultures and languages, with the great apes, with the dolphins, but particularly with those intelligent masters of the deep, the great whales?"Conclusion: although dated, this book is still worth reading.

A comprehensive overview of the cosmos. It reads like great literature should, and leaves the reader pondering the existence of humanity now and in the future. It asks us to think about who we humans are, and whether or not we will survive our own technology. A crucial warning!