Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

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Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (عالم المعرفة #254)

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 7,701 ratings · 215 reviews

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan traces our exploration of space and suggests that our very survival may depend on the wise use of other worlds. This stirring book reveals how scientific discovery has altered our perception of who we are and where we stand, and challenges us to weigh what we will do with that knowledge.

Photos, many in color.

Paperback, 384 pages

Published September 8th 1997 by Ballantine Books (first published 1994)

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Apr 12, 2011 Kurt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, non-fiction

Pale Blue Dot refers to the Earth as photographed from the Voyager craft at a point beyond the orbit of Neptune. Of course at that distance, the Earth is barely discernible - a very small, unremarkable, pale blue dot among a myriad of billions of other unremarkable points of light. Yet all our history, civilization, and culture that we have ever known has occurred on that dot.

Even though our ingrained geo-centric and ethno-centric biases cause us to become deflated and even depressed at the real...more

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Sep 30, 2008 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science_and_technology

I recently came across several references to this book while reading the superb God Delusion. I was intrigued, and since it had been quite a while since I read Cosmos, I decided to give Carl Sagan another go.
Besides his beautiful evocative descriptions of moons and worlds in our own Solar system, Sagan gave us a surplus of inspirational and cautionary passages in this work which--even as an adult--make you want to grow up to be an astronaut.

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Nov 07, 2007 Chris Friend rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sci-fi fans, space fans, humanitarians

I was impressed by how much I enjoyed this one. I've not read any Sagan before, so I didn't know what to expect, but he's one of those brilliant scientists who understands how to clearly explain things to laypeople. His story (I use the term though it reads more like a collection of journal entries or brief reports) covers wide-ranging topics about the implications and necessity of space travel, posing questions frequently, answering them occasionally, and leading inexorably to a single conclusi...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Joshua rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Al Gore's "The Inconvinient Truth"

WOW....WOW....WOW. Carl Sagan, what a champ. Fiction from scientists/astrologists may be a bummer (see Contact), but Carl drops the BOMB in this work. Truly ahead of his time and a great american. A great intro into science/astrology and really helped me understand a lot about all the planets and their make-up. Once we kill earth (pretty soon), perhaps we aren't TOTALLY fucked, their are other options out there if we get with it...but hey, we killed earth so why listen to Sagan. I drive an SUV,...more WOW....WOW....WOW. Carl Sagan, what a champ. Fiction from scientists/astrologists may be a bummer (see Contact), but Carl drops the BOMB in this work. Truly ahead of his time and a great american. A great intro into science/astrology and really helped me understand a lot about all the planets and their make-up. Once we kill earth (pretty soon), perhaps we aren't TOTALLY fucked, their are other options out there if we get with it...but hey, we killed earth so why listen to Sagan. I drive an SUV, i'm totally an asshole....but whatver you may be a fat capitalist.

Here is a great quote from the book that I spread around on Earth Day.

"By this point your expedition to the Earth must be considered highly successful. You've characterized the enviroment; you've detected life; you've found manifestations of intelligent beings' you may even have identified the dominant species, the one transfixed with geometry and rectilinearity. Surely this planet is worth a longer and more detailed study. That's why you've now inserted your spacecraft into orbit around the Earth.

Looking down on the planet, you uncover new puzzles. All over the Earth, smokestacks are pouring carbon dioxide and toxic chemicals into the air. So are the dominant beings who run on the roadways. But carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. As you watch, the of it in the atmosphere increases steadily, year after year. The same is true of methane and other greenhouse gases. If this keeps up, the temperature of the planet is going to increase. Spectroscopically, you discover another class of molecules being injected into the air, the chlorofluorocarbons. Not only are they greenhouses gases, but they are also devastatingly effective in destroying the protective ozone layer.

You look more closely at the center of the South American continent, which (as you know by now) is a vast rain forest. Every night you see thousands of fires. In the daytime, you find the region covered with smoke. Over the years, all over the planet, you find less and less forest and more and more scrub desert.

You look down on the large island of Madagascar. The rivers are colored brown, generating a vast stain in the surrounding ocean. This is topsoil being washed out to sea at a rate so high that in another few decades there will be none left. The same thing is happening, you note, at the mouths of rivers all over the planet.
But no topsoil means no agriculture. In another century, what will they eat? What will they breathe? How will they cope with a changing and more dangerous enviroment?

From your orbital perspective, you can see that something has unmistakably gone wrong. The dominant organisms, whoever they are (who have gone to so much trouble to rework the surface) are simultaneously destroying their ozone layer and their forests, eroding their topsoil, and performing massive, uncontrolled experiments on the planet's climate. Haven't they noticed what's happening? Are they oblivious to their fate? Are they unable to work together on behalf of the enviroment that sustains them all?

Perhaps, you think, it's time to reassess the conjecture that there's intelligent life on Earth." (less)

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Jan 08, 2013 Dave marked it as to-read

Shelves: calibre

SUMMARY:
"FASCINATING . . . MEMORABLE . . . REVEALING . . . PERHAPS THE BEST OF CARL SAGAN'S BOOKS."--The Washington Post Book World (front page review)In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Trevor Denton rated it 5 of 5 stars

The late astrophysicist and science advocate Carl Sagan, also an incidental existentialist, states a powerful case for humane behavior and global awareness.

This nonfiction masterpiece begins by pointing out the ramifications of the "pale blue dot" photograph taken by the Voyager in 1990, from a further distance than had ever before been seen. He logically speculates about the futility of wars over religious differences, land, extreme nationalism, and political conflict, when it comes to the bigg...more The late astrophysicist and science advocate Carl Sagan, also an incidental existentialist, states a powerful case for humane behavior and global awareness.

This nonfiction masterpiece begins by pointing out the ramifications of the "pale blue dot" photograph taken by the Voyager in 1990, from a further distance than had ever before been seen. He logically speculates about the futility of wars over religious differences, land, extreme nationalism, and political conflict, when it comes to the bigger picture. And if there is such a thing as a transcending authority on "the big picture," Sagan gets to be that authority--he was part of the team that convinced the mission leaders at NASA to take the time and resources required to reposition Voyager's cameras in order to get a picture of Earth from 3.7 billion miles away. He felt it would be a benefit to humanity worth going through the trouble for.

To have physical, visual evidence that the planet which bears every different belief, fear, hope, worry, annoyance, idea, mundane thought, religion, empire, war, life, death--everyone and every manmade thing you've ever heard of was conceived within that tiny pale pixel--was a treasure Sagan argued was worth having. He continues on to give a fascinating overview of humanity's journey outward, our species' history in space. He covers missions to just about every planet, and onward. He covers details of certain planets, and certain planets' moons, providing an impressive summary of the knowledge the human race has acquired purely through our own curiosity and ingenuity.

He also figures in the political influences on our real-world ability to execute missions that are theoretically possible. He concludes that Mars should be our next focus--our Moon was a huge, important step to have reached, but it is ultimately a dead end. But, he points out, the Moon only happened because of America's desire for superiority over the Soviet Union. For a man or woman to set foot on Mars, it will require a big change in the state of international politics. Mars has an ancient history of a livable, organic environment and has enough promise to warrant deeper exploration as a possible planet on which to expand our species past the lifespan of livable Earth. Sagan writes that we owe it ourselves to cooperate with one another in the interest of prolonging the existence of the species.

There is a LOT of information in this book, but it is written at a level which does not require the reader to have a background in astrophysics. Any interested adult could get through it, and it is portrayed in a cool-headed, realist manner that is refreshing to read.

This is recommended to all people, high school age and above, and will definitely be a required read for any future kids I might have.

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Oct 30, 2012 G.P. Plascencia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think of this as Sagan's 3rd best book, second to "Cosmos" and third to "Demon Haunted World"; what "Cosmos" is to the universe, "Blue Dot" is to space exploration. Maybe I would only critique, if anything at all, that Sagan is a fan of humanity, with an utter confidence that we -humanity- will eventually do what's right (I think) . Anyhow, in my opinion, Sagan gives in this book the best check-on-reality I have ever heard, or read from anyone else:
"From this distant vantage point, the Earth...more I think of this as Sagan's 3rd best book, second to "Cosmos" and third to "Demon Haunted World"; what "Cosmos" is to the universe, "Blue Dot" is to space exploration. Maybe I would only critique, if anything at all, that Sagan is a fan of humanity, with an utter confidence that we -humanity- will eventually do what's right (I think) . Anyhow, in my opinion, Sagan gives in this book the best check-on-reality I have ever heard, or read from anyone else:
"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."(less)

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Sep 20, 2012 Abbe added it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-library

From Publishers Weekly

...more

From Publishers Weekly

In a tour of our solar system, galaxy and beyond, Cornell astronomer Sagan meshes a history of astronomical discovery, a cogent brief for space exploration and an overview of life-from its origins in the oceans to humanity's first emergence to a projected future where humans "terraform" and settle other planets and asteroids, Earth having long been swallowed by the sun. Maintaining that such relocation is inevitable, the author further argues that planetary science is of practical utility, fostering an interdisciplinary approach to looming environmental catastrophes such as "nuclear winter" (lethal cooling of Earth after a nuclear war, a widely accepted prediction first calculated by Sagan in 1982). His exploration of our place in the universe is illustrated with photographs, relief maps and paintings, including high-resolution images made by Voyager 1 and 2, as well as photos taken by the Galileo spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope and satellites orbiting Earth, which show our planet as a pale blue dot. A worthy sequel to Sagan's Cosmos. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From

Sagan's great appeal as a popular-science writer, beyond his prodigious knowledge, is his optimism and sense of wonder. A visualizer and a visionary, he fires our imagination and turns science into high drama. After writing about our origins in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1992), Sagan turns his attention to outer space and takes up where Cosmos left off 14 years ago. An astonishing amount of information was amassed during that productive era, and Sagan, of course, is up on all of it. A passionate and eloquent advocate of space exploration, he believes that the urge to wander, and the need for a frontier, is intrinsic to our nature, and that this trait is linked to our survival as a species. Throughout this beautifully illustrated, revelatory, and compelling volume, Sagan returns again and again to our need for journeys and quests as well as our unending curiosity about our place in the universe. Such philosophical musings are interwoven with precise and enthusiastic accounts of the triumphs of interplanetary exploration, from the Apollo moon landings to the spectacular findings of robotic missions, especially the Voyager spacecraft. Sagan describes one exciting discovery after another regarding the four giants--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--and their many moons, mysterious and exquisite rings, and volatile atmospheres. He argues, convincingly, that planetary exploration is of immense value. It not only teaches us about our celestial neighbors, but helps us understand and protect Earth. Yes, we have seemingly insurmountable problems on this pale blue dot, but we have always reached for the stars, and we mustn't stop now. Donna Seaman

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Sep 04, 2012 Simon Halliday rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sagan wrote with clarity and elegance. PBD is a travalogue of the solar system with frequent rests to ponder what all this means to the human race.

The book stays clear of complex science but engages the reader to consider planetary geology, climatology and the possibility of alien biology. But most of all, Sagan's view is that of the impassioned observer who cares deeply about his subject, not just as an intellectual matter, but as something that has significance for our wellbeing, and perhaps s...more

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May 08, 2012 Bipul Roy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Must read this book, when ever you frown at someone at their small mistake and showing your egoistic authority at someone. This book will surely prove to be ego diminishing. Read it when ever your mind is facing giant storm of the "I" concept, all you feeling of self significance will vanish away.

Best one from Carl Sagan(about earth on watching its picture taken from the robotic probe at about 7-8 billion miles away,from the edge of solar system the earth appeared to be a dust particle):

"Look a...more Must read this book, when ever you frown at someone at their small mistake and showing your egoistic authority at someone. This book will surely prove to be ego diminishing. Read it when ever your mind is facing giant storm of the "I" concept, all you feeling of self significance will vanish away.

Best one from Carl Sagan(about earth on watching its picture taken from the robotic probe at about 7-8 billion miles away,from the edge of solar system the earth appeared to be a dust particle):

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." — Carl Sagan(less)

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Sep 05, 2011 Nicolas Ward rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: environmentalism, history, non-fiction, space, science

I don't think I have come across any other science writer who can equal Carl Sagan's reverent awe for the wonders of nature, and mankind's humble place in the universe. This book does not disappoint. My first exposure to it was in fact a sort of poem version of large chunks of the first chapter, read by Sagan, that I encountered in a YouTube video. It's a beautiful poem, and several parts of the book evoke that message. I think this derives from Sagan's respect for religious belief even as he ha...more I don't think I have come across any other science writer who can equal Carl Sagan's reverent awe for the wonders of nature, and mankind's humble place in the universe. This book does not disappoint. My first exposure to it was in fact a sort of poem version of large chunks of the first chapter, read by Sagan, that I encountered in a YouTube video. It's a beautiful poem, and several parts of the book evoke that message. I think this derives from Sagan's respect for religious belief even as he has to confront many religious people as opponents of the science for which he advocates.

On top of that general tone, I think Sagan did a very good job of painting a hopeful future for human, but especially robot, spaceflight while acknowledging our past failures. I wish I had read it around when I was published, as a youth with a plan to become an engineer and then an astronaut. On the other hand, it has reexcited adult me, as a software guy, to be interested in robotic exploration of the solar system. There's also some great trivia about past space missions and some of the more famous planetary scientists that Sagan worked with during his career. It's also a reminder that Dr. Sagan is a published academic, not just a science advocate and host of science shows on PBS like Cosmos.

The book has aged fairly well, given that it was written in 1994, but I would love to know what Sagan thinks about more recent developments, from amazing successes like the Cassini mission then under development, and especially the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which are probably the pinnacle of robotic exploration thus far, to the tragic loss of the Columbia and slow moribundity of the American manned programs.

One minor disappointment, which I didn't immediately realize other than some minor confusion from references in the text, is that the edition I read lacked the color photos and some of the diagrams and tables. I have no idea why a publisher would allow that to happen. I'm sure it was cheaper, but parts of the text make no sense without the visuals.(less)

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Sep 23, 2012 JJVid rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: futurity

Carl Sagan is well within his element waxing optimistic (albeit reservedly) about the futurity of our species as interplanetary sojourners and colonizers. He imagines an interstellar return to the nomadic lifestyle, a kind of repetition of humanity's past with the post-modern twist of technological advancement.

That is one of the culminating points of this book, and Sagan builds up to it by describing the chronology of our increased understanding of the 9 planets that comprise our solar system (...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Naomi Hyde rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, science

This book was very well written by an excellent physicist. It was one of those books that really makes you consider the world around you and the massive scale of the Universe.
The first chapter contemplated the arrogance and self-centred nature of humans, and presented the notion that humans are exceedingly small compared to the vast Universe. For the first time I really comprehended how tiny our species are. It is quite an obvious concept that gets lost in everyday worries, fears and troubles. N...more This book was very well written by an excellent physicist. It was one of those books that really makes you consider the world around you and the massive scale of the Universe.
The first chapter contemplated the arrogance and self-centred nature of humans, and presented the notion that humans are exceedingly small compared to the vast Universe. For the first time I really comprehended how tiny our species are. It is quite an obvious concept that gets lost in everyday worries, fears and troubles. Now everytime I am stressed or anxious I think of how insignificant it is compared to the world, compared to the Universe, and perhaps how some far-off civilisation would view our world and its problems.
Another thing the book did was allowed the reader to take an objective perspective of the Earth, for example, it made me realise how irrelevant political and social problems such as war and money are; the Universe is so much bigger, so much more significant than the miniscule conflicts that we create here on Earth. But it also made me realise the grandeur of the human race: how much we have accomplished, how much we still don't know, how far we're willing to go to find answers to scientific problems.
The book also touched on the Solar System and the many diverse environments close to our planet, which was well explained. It was amusing to see that little information was available regarding what Titan is like since the probe would reach there in 2004 (the book was written in 1995)! I had to seek reference in another book to find the answers and alleviate my curiosity about this strange moon. However, the positive to this lack of information is that it elucidated the fact that science is always growing; new phenomena are constantly being discovered so that books written almost 20 years ago are immediately out of date. Carl Sagan also discussed the prospect of sending robots to Mars, which again made me laugh given Curiosity's recent successful landing.
As the book went on, I found that it lost momentum. The last 8 or so chapters were quite repetitive and tedious; Sagan was mainly speculating about future possibilities instead of introducing new facts. Nevertheless, I found it quite interesting to read about potential trips to other galaxies, or terra-forming of Mars and asteroids - it would make for an excellent science fiction novel!
The last chapter recapitulated much of the whole book so that I was left feeling that sense of awe and wonder at the majestic of the Universe and of humanity's scientific advancement.
In conclusion, this was a fantastic book that really makes the reader contemplate the vastness of the Universe, feel patriotic towards Earth and want to make exploration of the Universe a possibility.(less)

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Nov 20, 2011 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-books, astronomy, skepticism, 2011

In this late work, the visionary Carl Sagan holds forth on the present (as of 1994) and future of space exploration. In the first several chapters, the soft-spoken skeptic puts us in our place, literally. The book begins with some of the most profound and lyrical prose from any science writer, ever. Here is part of his reflections on a photo beamed back from Voyager 1, out past Pluto, in which the Earth is seen as a minuscule, baby-blue point:

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. Tha

...more In this late work, the visionary Carl Sagan holds forth on the present (as of 1994) and future of space exploration. In the first several chapters, the soft-spoken skeptic puts us in our place, literally. The book begins with some of the most profound and lyrical prose from any science writer, ever. Here is part of his reflections on a photo beamed back from Voyager 1, out past Pluto, in which the Earth is seen as a minuscule, baby-blue point:

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," ever "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there—on a mote of duct suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Within a few paragraphs, Dr. Sagan both subjects us to a dose of the Total Perspective Vortex and demolishes the most dearly held prejudices and misconceptions about scientists and the nonreligious. It is not scientists and freethinkers who believe that the entire vast Universe was created for the benefit of one species of one planet among countless trillions.

After this phenomenal beginning, the book winds down to a very well written but rather unexciting description of discoveries made by old and (then) new space probes, from Venera and Viking to Voyager and Galileo, with speculation (which, alas, falls short of predicting the wonders we have since seen) about the upcoming Cassini/Huygens mission. If you're too young to remember the fantastic image beamed back from Voyager 1 and 2, or didn't follow the coverage in the late 70s and early 80s, the middle section of the book recreates some of the excitement of viewing these detailed photos of the outer planets for the first time; but the seasoned space buff will find little that's new. One prominent exception is the author's description of his own research, mainly on the composition of Titan's atmosphere. I'll have to go back and reread some of the news from Cassini/Huygens to see how well his predictions held.

I'd like to think that Dr. Sagan's timeline for human exploration of the Solar System and beyond is accurate; but I do not share his optimism.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 University of Chicago Magazine added it

Shelves: college, physical-sciences-division

Carl Sagan, AB'54, SB'55, SM'56, PhD'60
Author

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Joe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This is the first book I've read by Sagan, and I'm eagerly anticipating the next one I get the chance to read. Unlike a fair share of scientific writing, the points the author is making are never obscured by the technical terms. Sagan bolsters his claims with a stunning command of evidence and knowledge of the planetary bodies, but I never felt like I was being talked down to. The introduction and conclusion both do an impeccable job at examining the idea of humility and the harms a earth-centri...more

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Oct 12, 2010 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Carl Sagan has a wonderful ability to share his passion for science and the natural world. He's an excellent writer, and does a very good job of making astronomy accessible without dumbing it down.

Reading this took me back to my childhood and the wonder I felt when I thought about the natural world (universe) and how incredible it is. It also reminded me that science can be fun, regardless of how dull most schooling makes it. A wonderful book, and I would highly recommend it to EVERYONE.

My onl...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Vincent Russo rated it 5 of 5 stars

It’s Carl Sagan, so of course you’d expect nothing less than an insightful and humbling read. Portions of the audio book were narrated by Carl Sagan in his signature voice, as well as the famous "Pale Blue Dot" monologue which is in the beginning portion of this book, and each time I hear it, I get chills.

The first half of the book is primarily about the insignificance of the human race, and how inconsequential our existence is in relation to the vastness of the universe. This may sound depressi...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is simply incredible. While some of the statistics and "current events" may be outdated as it is now, its core argument is perhaps even more salient and relevant than it has ever been.

This book will make you want to explore our universe more than you ever have before, and it will make you more than slightly furious at a lot of the political decisions surrounding NASA in the nearly two decades since this book was published.

If he were still alive today, Sagan would undoubtedly be frustra...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites

In keeping with all of his other books, Sagan has once again weaved a spectacular tale. Pale Blue Dot brings light to the solar system, illuminating each of our heavenly neighbours, teasing out the very nature of every body. I am especially fond of Sagan's description of Earth from the vantage point of space, would ET even notice that intelligent life exists on this small watery planet.

This book is eminently readable, though I did find myself feeling remorse for the fact that Sagan died before m...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Joshua Woodbury rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first part of this book really bugged me. Sagan explains how ridiculous it is for humans to believe that we have a purpose. That is just part of egocentric human nature trying to put itself at the center of the universe. I mean, people once thought the sun rotated around the earth. That wasn't true, so it logically follows that there is no designer to the universe.

I don't care that he holds his beliefs, I just do not see what spending so much time on them had to do with our future of space...more

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May 17, 2013 Geoffrey Stone rated it 2 of 5 stars

An OK book. A little dated, but it's hard to blame Sagan for that...since it wasn't dated when he wrote it. :-)

There are some interesting ideas here. I liked the way he explored looking at the earth from incredibly far away and how it would look to an entity who gradually got closer and closer and exactly how close that entity would have to get to see any evidence of intelligent life. We like to think everything we do is really impactful, but it kind of isn't -- certainly not in any meaningful w...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Fraser rated it 5 of 5 stars

Optimistic, awe inspiring, all the things that Sagan was over the years through his accessible and popular works are all on display here, which includes superb photography and art work throughout. The title says it all, our perception of how small we are in the vastness of the cosmos isn't a frightening concept, but rather something exciting in terms of the possibilities that Sagan clearly embraces. A human future indeed.

I loved this book for stirring my imagination, engaging fascinations that I...more

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Dec 19, 2011 Kelley Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, science

This is an amazing history of humanity's space exploration, but it is also speculative about the future of our space programs.

Some highlights:
-speculating how we might colonize asteroids
-description of the moral dilemma concerning technology that could protect the Earth from wayward space objects
-Sagan's ideas about where and how the space programs should expand in order to save money (also, group project ideas)
-similar to the above, his detailed description of the combined benefits of space ex...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Gregjrothwellgmail.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

Carl Sagan is a great loss to humanity - I feel a great sadness that I will never again be able to see the world and the universe through his eyes. Our society would certainly be far ahead of where it currently is had he been in a position of power...

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in space or the future/functioning of the human race because although some of the science is above basic level, layman's terms are used so that anybody can follow. I was already aware of quite a...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Yasser Asiri rated it 1 of 5 stars

this is my first experience to hear an audio-book .. the way "Carl Sagan" read it is just beautiful. his voice is so Unique.

although the book has high rate , but i think it doesn't worth one star for many reasons:

1-the book has many Atheistic ideas supported by theories of the origin of life "Cosmology".
couple chapters discuss the religious ideas of the beginning of life and compare it with the scientific discoveries. it's so offensive to the one's believe. i really really don't advise to read...more

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Dec 18, 2008 Jefke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Als gelovige mensen horen dat ik atheïst geworden ben, dan zeggen ze tegen mij dat het enorm arrogant is om als mens te denken dat wij alles kunnen begrijpen en dus zeker kunnen zijn dat er geen God bestaat. Deze uitspraak is zowel een stroman argument (een aanval op een bewering die niet gemaakt werd... ik, en de meeste atheïsten met mij, heb nooit beweerd dat we alles kunnen begrijpen.) als een non sequitur (het ene volgt niet uit het andere, het is niet omdat we niet alles kunnen begrijpen da...more Als gelovige mensen horen dat ik atheïst geworden ben, dan zeggen ze tegen mij dat het enorm arrogant is om als mens te denken dat wij alles kunnen begrijpen en dus zeker kunnen zijn dat er geen God bestaat. Deze uitspraak is zowel een stroman argument (een aanval op een bewering die niet gemaakt werd... ik, en de meeste atheïsten met mij, heb nooit beweerd dat we alles kunnen begrijpen.) als een non sequitur (het ene volgt niet uit het andere, het is niet omdat we niet alles kunnen begrijpen dat er een god bestaat).
Carl Sagan draait de rollen om door te zeggen dat gelovigen in de huidige tijd wel erg arrogant moet zijn om te denken dat er een god moet bestaan dat tussen al die miljarden melkwegstelsels, met al die miljarden sterren, precies de onze viseert, en van al die miljarden levensvormen die erop leven precies ons gekozen heeft als zijn verkoren soort. Meer nog, van die soort alleen de willekeurige groep die die specifieke religie heeft (en de andere religies niet). Dat die god een onmetelijk heelal geschapen heeft speciaal voor ons. --Sagan begint met een beeld te geven van hoe onmetelijk groot ons zonnestelsel is door de reis van de Voyager sondes te beschrijven, en dan een beeld te geven van hoe klein dat zonnestelsel is in die onmetelijke melkweg en hoe klein die is binnen het heelal.
Hij toont daarna aan dat de mens helemaal geen bijzondere plaats in dat heelal inneemt.
Verder in het boek maakt hij de schrijver bewust van het feit dat we onze planeet moeten beschermen want we hebben geen reserveplaneten. Hij pleit echter wel voor het verderzetten van astronomisch onderzoek, bemande ruimtevluchten. Deze activiteiten kunnen ons helpen om de wereld beter te begrijpen en haar zo beter te beschermen. Een ilustratief voorbeeld hiervan is de ontdekking van de opwarming van de aarde door CO2. Dat is gebeurd door een astronoom die aan het onderzoeken was waarom de temperatuur op Venus zo hoog is.

Carl Sagan is een grote astronoom die les kreeg van de grote Nederlandse astronoom Kuyper (van de gordel) die op zijn beurt een leerling was van die andere Nederlandse reus Huygens.(less)

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May 31, 2011 Adam Stauthamer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Audio book where Sagan actually reads this is awesome and recommend but as I read in other reviews, the illustrations are sure to be instructive. Sagan balances science, art, storytelling, politics, and exposition. He makes a clear and convincing argument for humans' continued exploration of space and other planets. At the same time he shows the immeasurable wonders of the cosmos as only Sagan can. The book is quickly becoming dated with some of the more recent expeditions to Mars and such but n...more

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Aug 26, 2012 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science

Pale Blue Dot was Carl's last book, written while he was battling cancer and published after his death. Sagan was responsible for having NASA rotate a Voyager spacecraft (as it was leaving the solar system) and photograph the planets, including of course the Earth, which was appeared as a pale blue dot.
I think Carl Sagan is a must read for any person who wants to be educated. Carl was a true Renascence Man, and his best gift ( of many) was teaching us about perspective. Perspective makes us wis...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Curtis rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had never read a Carl Sagan book before this. The covers have always turned me off. But it appears I have been missing out on some great non-fiction because "Pale Blue Dot" is a fascinating book. Sagan is obviously brilliant, but his writing is laid down in such a way that anyone can understand what he is getting at. In this book he confronts the history and motives of human space travel and goes back and forth with his own intellect as he weighs the opportunities and road blocks that lay ahea...more

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About Carl Sagan

An American Astronomer, author, and renowned promoter of sciences, Carl Edward Sagan was the co-writer and presenter of the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, seen by more than 500 million people in over 60 countries.

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Quotes from Pale Blue Dot: A Visio...

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” — 671 people liked it

“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.” — 180 people liked it

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Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (عالم المعرفة #254)

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