Between new episodes and reruns, the show was the most widely watched series on U.S. The first show aired on the Public Broadcasting Service in October of 1980. In 1977, Sagan began work on the television series 'Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,' serving as writer and presenter. 'Carl kept feet firmly planted in both the planetary research community and in the greater worlds of science communication and science policy,' astronomers Yervant Terzian and Virginia Trimble wrote in the American Astronomical Society's obituary for Sagan.Ĭarl Sagan pictured at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, in 1974 (Image credit: Photo by Santi Visalli Inc./Getty Images) Sagan's Books and TV Episodes He authored hundreds of popular articles and more than two dozen books, and he frequently appeared in Time magazine - landing the cover on Oct. He was gifted at breaking down scientific concepts into explanations that the public could readily understand, while avoiding talking down to them. And he promoted the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( SETI) Institute, where he served as a trustee.īut Sagan was far more visible as a scientific educator than as a researcher. He co-founded and served as the first president of The Planetary Society, an organization dedicated to inspiring and involving the public in space exploration. Sagan helped lay the groundwork for two new scientific disciplines: planetary science and exobiology, or the study of potential life on other planets.

He also helped brief astronauts prior to their trips to the moon. Later, he suggested that dust storms on Mars caused the seasonal changes observed on that planet, and he also wrote a series of papers on the organic chemistry of Jupiter's atmosphere.Īs an advisor to NASA, Sagan helped design and manage the Mariner 2 mission to Venus, the Mariner 9 and Viking trips to Mars, the Voyager system to the outer solar system, and the Galileo mission to Jupiter. As part of his doctorate research, Sagan computed the first greenhouse model for Venus' atmosphere, which revealed a higher temperature than previously suspected. When Sagan was in graduate school, many scientists thought the planet Venus was similar to Earth.

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