1 Skilled Space Enthusiast Carl Sagan was an astrophysicist astronomer and professor He loved space and devoted his life to getting his students excited about it too He was also fascinated by the possibility of extraterrestrial life Sagan spent much time researching and discussing this topic Sagan shared his ideas outside the classroom too He was a gifted science writer who published more than 600 papers and articles and more than 20 books Of these books Cosmos was the most popular It was published as a companion to Sagan’s 1980 television series of the same name The TV series Cosmos is one of Sagan’s best-known legacies It remains the most-watched series in the history of public television In the series Sagan captured the attention of millions of viewers around the world and got them excited about space Sagan had great skill in explaining advanced science topics in a simple and interesting way He became famous for making space and science popular with the public His work also inspired several generations of scientists and explorers 4
2 Excited about Stars Carl Edward Sagan was born on November 9 1934 in Brooklyn New York His parents were Sam and Rachel Carl had one sister Carol The Sagans lived in an apartment near the Atlantic Ocean Coney Island was nearby and the family visited the coastal neighborhood often Carl and Carol would play on the beach Carl’s parents read and had lively discussions about politics Sam and Rachel also encouraged their children to study and read Carl liked to read science fiction stories He was especially interested in stories where people claimed to have seen UFOs or extraterrestrial life When he was about five years old Carl’s interest turned to the stars He wondered what they were made of Rachel sent her son to the library to find out Carl read a book about stars and learned that the sun is a star He also began to realize how big the universe is This early experience with space research influenced Carl’s future 6
Young Carl often asked his parents friends family and neighbors in New York City what they thought stars were
