...the hopeless sense of a civilization destroyed for nothing; the knowledge that we could have prevented it and did not. - Carl Sagan

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...the hopeless sense of a civilization destroyed for nothing; the knowledge that we could have prevented it and did not.

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About Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan (9 November 1934 – 20 December 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect. He testified to the US Congress in 1985 that the greenhouse effect will change the earth's climate system.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: Carl Edward Sagan
Alternative Names: Sagan Carl E. Sagan Carl E Sagan C. E. Sagan C.E. Sagan C E Sagan C. Sagan C Sagan Sagan C Sagan C. Sagan C. E. Sagan CE

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Additional quotes by Carl Sagan

"Frequentemente me perguntam: "Você acredita que existe inteligência exraterrestre?" Respondo com os argumentos padrões - há muitos lugares no espaço, as moléculas da vida estão por toda parte, emprego a palavra bilhões, e assim por diante. Depois digo que ficaria espantado senão houvesse inteligência extraterrestre, mas que ainda não há absolutamente nenhuma evidência convincente de que ela existe.
Muitas vezes me perguntam a seguir:
-O que você realmente acha?
Respondo:
-Acabei de lhe dizer o que realmente acho.
-Sim, mas qual é a sua opinião visceral?
Mas eu tento não pensar com as minhas vísceras. Se levo a sério minha tentativa de compreender o mundo, pensar com algum órgão que não seja o cérebro, por mais tentador que possa ser, provavelmente complicará a minha vida. Na verdade, é correto guardar a opinião para quando houver evidências."

A scientific colleague tells me about a recent trip to the New Guinea highlands where she visited a stone age culture hardly contacted by Western civilization. They were ignorant of wristwatches, soft drinks, and frozen food. But they knew about Apollo 11. They knew that humans had walked on the Moon. They knew the names of Armstrong and Aldrin and Collins. They wanted to know who was visiting the Moon these days.

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Venus, it turns out, is broiling hot. There are no swamps, no oil fields, no seltzer oceans. With insufficient data, it is easy to go wrong.

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