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.

Social concerns

Sagan believed that the Drake equation suggested that a large number of extraterrestrial civilizations would form, but that the lack of evidence of such civilizations (the Fermi paradox) suggests that technological civilizations tend to destroy themselves rather quickly. This stimulated his interest in identifying and publicizing ways that humanity could destroy itself, with the hope of avoiding such destruction and eventually becoming a space-faring species.

Related Topics:
Drake equation - Fermi paradox

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Sagan, a life-long follower of liberalism, became more politically active after marrying leftist Ann Druyan and performed acts of civil disobedience at nuclear weapons sites during the Nuclear freeze era. He spoke out against President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, or the "Star Wars" program, which he felt was technically impossible to build and perfect, far more expensive to create than for an enemy to defeat through decoys and other means, and destabilizing to Cold War nuclear weapons disarmament progress.

Related Topics:
Liberalism - Leftist - Ann Druyan - Civil disobedience - Nuclear weapons - Nuclear freeze - Ronald Reagan - Strategic Defense Initiative

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Carl Sagan was an avid user of marijuana, although he never publicly admitted it during his life{{ref|marijuana}}. Under the pseudonym "Mr. X," he wrote an essay concerning cannabis smoking in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered

Related Topics:
Marijuana - Pseudonym - 1971 - Lester Grinspoon

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