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Pale Blue Dot: a Vision of the Human Future in Space [Paperback]

Carl Sagan (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Jan 1997
"FASCINATING . . . MEMORABLE . . . REVEALING . . . PERHAPS THE BEST OF CARL SAGAN'S BOOKS."
--The Washington Post Book World (front page review)

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier--space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.

"TAKES READERS FAR BEYOND Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity's future in the stars."
--Chicago Tribune

Product details

  • Paperback: 360 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; Ballantine Books ed edition (1 Jan 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345376595
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345376596
  • Product Dimensions: 14 x 2.1 x 21.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 72,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The spacecraft was a long way from home, beyond the orbit of the outermost planet and high above the ecliptic plane-which is an imaginary flat surface that we can think of as something like a racetrack in which the orbits of the planets are mainly confined. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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51 of 51 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars You live here! 2 Oct 2005
By Stephen A. Haines HALL OF FAME
Format:Paperback
As these pages attest, there are a number of fine writers out there providing us non-scientists with insights on nature's mysteries. None, however, quite reached the breadth of view or intensity of feeling imparted by Carl Sagan. His writings explained topics ranging from quantum particles to the extent of the cosmos. Along the way, he addressed evolution, space engineering and countless other facets of science and technology. Even fiction wasn't beyond his grasp.

Pale Blue Dot is a journey in time and space. Beginning with the assertion that we're natural wanderers, being the only species to settle across our world, it continues with a plea to extend further our exploration of space. The early chapters challenge restrictions on our desire to explore and learn. Sagan demonstrates how foolish minds have restrained our quest for knowledge of the cosmos. He then takes us on a tour of the solar system, exhibiting the wonders revealed by the fleet of robot probes. He reminds us of the forces the cosmos can unleash, sometimes right in our neighbourhood. Like many of the rest of us, Sagan was awed by the collision of a comet with the Jovian gas giant. It was a hint of what might lay in store for us if we fail to understand the universe better than we do now. The space probes also returned images of worlds invalidating existing theories of planetary formation. If our own neighbours can present such bizarre structures, what kinds of worlds ride beyond our ken, circling suns we can barely imagine? What Sagan can't portray, he can conjecture. With his firm working scientist's foundation, Sagan's speculations command respectful attention.

This book must be shelved alongside Richard Dawkins THE SELFISH GENE and THE BLIND WATCHMAKER. Together, these three fine works confront the traditional Western view of a universe and the life in it resulting from a Designer. From Dawkins' biological analysis to Sagan's cosmological view, this obstructionist outlook is here rendered groundless. More people must read Pale Blue Dot to gain an idea of who we are and where we stand in the vastness of a nearly limitless universe. Please read this book and convey its ideas to others. There is much to be gained from its imparted wisdom. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring and fascinating journey 7 Dec 2000
By Paper Tiger
Format:Paperback
Carl Sagan is one of the most brilliant thinkers of our generation and this book is an exclamation mark on a fruitful and alas, too short, career. This book is a sequel to the well-known "cosmos" in which, the author contemplates on the future of humankind on earth and in the farthest regions of space. As always, it is a riveting journey guided by the enthusiastic, humorous and eloquent Sagan who manages to leave the reader with a feeling of cautious optimism despite the many reasons humankind has to worry about its future. An excellent read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Visionary 25 Sep 2010
By John Dexter
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Carl Sagan viewed space exploration as both a natural consequence of our nomadic past and an essential constituent of our survival: in Pale Blue Dot, he articulates this vision, making an elegant and compelling argument for a programme of sustained space-exploration in order to cheat the cosmos of humanity's ultimate extinction.

Given Sagan's prodigious output over an all too brief life, recycled material from earlier work is to be expected and the book opens with one of his recurrent themes, revisiting the idea that science continues to diminish humanity's over-inflated sense of importance and plots our species' ignominious ("great" ch.3 pp.20-37) demotion from cosmic "purpose" to universal bit part. Sagan also covers other favourite topics, including global warming and weapons of mass destruction, synthesising these themes into a comprehensive argument that humanity has reached a turning point in its evolution with the ability for self-destruction without, perhaps, the wisdom to prevent it. However, whilst some of the early content may feel familiar, this is not a simple rehashing of old arguments: it is a grand vision of humanity's future and, with his characteristic clarity and restraint, Sagan makes a powerful argument that our innate curiosity will eventually drive us to the stars.

For obvious reasons, the space exploration review appears a little dated but Sagan's intimate involvement with much of America's attempts to explore our solar system and unique ability to collaborate with Soviet scientists makes it a fascinating and insightful read nonetheless. Moreover, the discussion is really a vehicle for Sagan's speculations about the potential for such adventure and he proceeds to indulge his imagination for cosmic housekeeping, boulder hopping and interplanetary squatting! This book can leave no doubt that Sagan was a true visionary and his premature demise is a loss to us all.

Perhaps not quite as good as The Demon-Haunted World, but very, very close!
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