Happy New Year!
This year for Christmas, I asked for Cosmos by Carl Sagan. My mom was taken aback by this request, but she got it for me anyway. I do not particularly like reading nonfiction (different than creative nonfiction) and I’m not usually invested in science related subjects. I had two reasons for this request. 1. My astronomy professor quoted from it at the end of the last class and I liked the quote and the quote’s diction. 2. I’m determined to read books from every genre, especially the ones that I typically avoid (I even signed up for a detective fiction class for this reason).
My progress in the book has been rather slow due to me reading other books and listening to three others simultaneously, but I have enjoyed. I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would, actually. For those with a heavier science background than me, some of Sagan’s explanations may seem a little dumbed down. However, they are perfect for me, the English major. Where I am in the book now, he is mostly just explaining the origins of the concept of Martians (which is thoroughly interesting and engaging), but he every once in a while, with the grace and grasp of language I don’t often associate with physicists, makes his topic relatable and accessible to all.
A few passages that I particularly liked:
“What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”
“I am a collection of water, calcium and organic molecules called Carl Sagan. You are a collection of almost identical molecules with a different collective label. But is that all? Is there nothing in here but molecules? Some people find this idea somehow demeaning to human dignity. For myself, I find it elevating that our universe permits the evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we.”
“An extraterrestrial visitor, looking at the differences among human beings and their societies, would find those differences trivial compared to the similarities.”
What is astounding about this work is that Sagan devotes much of the pages to helping the reader learn about the cosmos and places in the universe that we are extremely lucky to know about, but particularly emphasizes the importance of other human beings and the earth that we live on. He shows that science is not simply about cold facts, but about warmth and solidarity.