Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan was an astronomer, astrobiologist, author, and arguably the greatest popularizer of science of all time. He worked with the American space program from its inception, and supported the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (SETI), producing the golden phonograph record containing an elaborate message for extraterrestrials that launched on the Voyager space probes. Sagan earned worldwide fame for his science writing and award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos. He wrote about the relationship between science and religion, and his work promoted skeptical inquiry and scientific humanism over traditional religion. He was critical of the popular conception of God as a sapient being and maintained that the existence of a creator is difficult to prove or disprove, yet he preferred to think of himself as “agnostic” rather than an atheist. Over his lifetime, Sagan received numerous awards and accolades, including a Peabody Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and 1981’s “Humanist of the Year” award.