Cosmos

One of the best-selling science books ever published in the English language. Author Carl Sagan died in 1996. Associated Press: "Carl Sagan is one of the most brilliant scientists of our times... He has done an excellent writing job as he delves into the past, present, and future of science, dealing with the mindstaggering enormity of the cosmos in which we exist." New York Times Book Review: "Enticing, imaginative, readable, iridescent." This book has a bound full color glossy center photo insert.

Cosmos was the first science TV blockbuster, and Carl Sagan was its (human) star. By the time of Sagan's death in 1996, the series had been seen by half a billion people; Sagan was perhaps the best-known scientist on the planet. Explaining how the series came about, Sagan recalled:

I was positive from my own experience that an enormous global interest exists in the exploration of the planets and in many kindred scientific topics--the origin of life, the Earth, and the Cosmos, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, our connection with the universe. And I was certain that this interest could be excited through that most powerful communications medium, television.

Sagan's own interest and enthusiasm for the universe were so vivid and infectious, his screen presence so engaging, that viewers and readers couldn't help but be caught up in his vision. From stars in their "billions and billions" to the amino acids in the primordial ocean, Sagan communicated a feeling for science as a process of discovery. Inevitably, some of the science in Cosmos has been outdated in the years since 1980--but Sagan's sense of wonder is ageless. --Mary Ellen Curtin