Let's talk about Carl Sagan!

Overblood

nozzferrahhtoo wrote: »

Sagan I admire a lot but not for the reasons most people would think:

That's the reason everybody admires him isn't it? He was a great popularizer of science. THE great popularizer.

The narrators on discovery's astronomy programs are lifeless nowadays. You can tell they are reading form a script and from the tone of their voice you can ell that they are not too passionate about it either. With Carl Sagan as a narrator/presenter, you can see that he loves teaching people about science, and his passion becomes kind of infectious and transfers over to you.

5uspect

Overblood wrote: »

That's the reason everybody admires him isn't it? He was a great popularizer of science. THE great popularizer.

The narrators on discovery's astronomy programs are lifeless nowadays. You can tell they are reading form a script and from the tone of their voice you can ell that they are not too passionate about it either. With Carl Sagan as a narrator/presenter, you can see that he loves teaching people about science, and his passion becomes kind of infectious and transfers over to you.

Have you played the Simpsons Game? They have a Saganesque narrator in the planetarium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emRKIiW5FsY

daycent

I just know of him because of the movie 'Contact' unfortunately.

Oh, and that he has a seriously cool name!:D

Overblood

For those of you who read Contact, at the very end doesn't Sagan:

hint at the possibility of a creator?

Or am I remembering incorrectly.

bogwalrus

family guy have him in their show.

Its very funny;

Cosmos for Rednecks=)

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TthHltjrvA

The Mad Hatter

bogwalrus wrote: »

family guy have him in their show.

Its very funny;

Cosmos for Rednecks=)

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TthHltjrvA

Pfft - Family Guy isn't funny!

Goduznt Xzst

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

Pfft - Family Guy isn't funny!

:eek: I see a schism coming.

No longer will I accept your false teachings about the lack of humor in family guy. From this day forth Atheists who adhere to laughing at Peter Griffins aphorisms will be known as "The Atheist fellowship of Peter Griffinites" (aka First United Church of the Fonz)

Now if someone could point me in the direction of the closest Atheist HQ's, I'll get my copies of family guy nailed to the door as soon as possible.

Dragan

Overblood wrote: »

I hope I don't shatter any illusions by saying this, but did you know that he was an avid pot-smoker? Smoked the stuff till the day he died!

As did many great minds in history.

So what?

Dades

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

Pfft - Family Guy isn't funny!

I respect your right to hold that opinion, sir, but not the opinion itself.

Overblood wrote: »

For those of you who read Contact, at the very end doesn't Sagan:

hint at the possibility of a creator?

Or am I remembering incorrectly.

In the book - yeah.

When 'pi' was printed out in a certain manner it displayed a circle. Very cool I thought!

Overblood

Dragan wrote: »

As did many great minds in history.

So what?

What's with people replying to me about Carl smoking cannabis with comments like "And?" "so?" "So what?"

F*ck, I mention something about his life and you reply "so what"? What if I said "did you know he lectured in Cornell Universtiy". Would you say "so what" to that?

You could have just left it at:

As did many great minds in history.

Dades

Overblood wrote: »

What's with people replying to me about Carl smoking cannabis with comments like "And?" "so?" "So what?"

Your post implied that smoking pot might shatter people's illusions.

Overblood wrote:

I hope I don't shatter any illusions by saying this...

People are reacting to that it seems.

Overblood

Dades wrote: »

In the book - yeah.

When 'pi' was printed out in a certain manner it displayed a circle. Very cool I thought!

There's a possibility he could have thought that in real life...

Flamed Diving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccReLF6M62Y

Woger

Watch cosmos here.
http://www.hulu.com/cosmos

Dades

Woger wrote: »

Watch cosmos here.
http://www.hulu.com/cosmos

It seems you need to be in the US, or use a US proxy to view those.

Tyler MacDurden

Dades wrote: »

It seems you need to be in the US, or use a US proxy to view those.

A solution for us Outlanders -

http://anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield/

- as suggested by a guy on RD's website. Apparently it hides your IP address/location, worked for him in Germany.

Flamed Diving

Is Cosmos worth watching? I figured it might be a bit dated now.

Overblood

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Is Cosmos worth watching? I figured it might be a bit dated now.

Cosmos is one of the greatest television series ever made. Officially! The best thing about Cosmos is that the narrator, Sagan himself, is so passionate about the subject matter. All the science programs on Discovery lack that personal touch as it's obviously some guy reading from a script, waiting for 5pm so he can go home and have his dinner. Carl Sagan lived for this stuff.

Basically, watch it!

nitrogen

Also a massive fan of Carl Sagan.

For anyone that hasn't read his work, I highly recommend both Cosmos and Pale Blue Dot. Both are fantastic pieces of work. Cosmos for me is slightly better as it's not only a journey through the solar system, but a voyage through our civilisation's discover of science.

Contact is also one of my favourite science-fiction films.

Woger

Flamed Diving wrote: »

Is Cosmos worth watching? I figured it might be a bit dated now.

I haven't watched it all yet but imagine David Attenborough doing astronomy.

velocirafter

Woger wrote: »

I haven't watched it all yet but imagine David Attenborough doing astronomy.

better than that