Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and science popularizer. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI). He is world-famous for his popular science books and the television series ', which he co-wrote and presented. In his works, he frequently advocated the scientific method.

Scientific advocacy

Sagan was a proponent of the search for extraterrestrial life. He urged the scientific community to listen with large radio telescopes for signals from intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms. He advocated sending probes to other planets. Sagan was Editor in Chief of Icarus (a professional journal concerning planetary research) for 12 years. He cofounded the Planetary Society and was a member of the SETI Institute Board of Trustees.

Related Topics:
Icarus - Planetary Society - SETI Institute

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He was well known as a coauthor of the scientific paper that predicted nuclear winter{{ref|nuclearwinter}} would follow nuclear war. Sagan famously predicted that smoky oil fires in Kuwait (set by Saddam Hussein's army) would cause an ecological disaster of black clouds. Retired atmospheric physicist, Fred Singer, dismissed Sagan's prediction as nonsense, predicting that the smoke would dissipate in a matter of days. In The Demon-Haunted World, Sagan gave a list of errors he had made (including his predictions about the effects of the Kuwaiti oil fires) as an example of how science is tentative.

Related Topics:
Nuclear winter - Nuclear war - Fred Singer

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