'Capable of working magic'

 “What anastonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexibleparts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at itand you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousandsof years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silentlyinside your head, directly to you." -- Carl Sagan

Sagan, born in Brooklyn, NY on Nov. 9, 1934 was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist and astrobiologistwho also wrote more than 600 articles and authored, co-authored or edited 20books.  His novel Contact was the basis fora popular movie, and he co-wrote and narrated Cosmos, the most widely watched series in the history of Americanpublic television.    Sagan died of pneumoniaat the relatively young age of 61, but just before his death he spoke the wonderfulwords above about books and writing.
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“Writing is perhaps the greatest of humaninventions," Sagan said, "binding together people who never knew each other, citizens ofdistant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humansare capable of working magic."