Dr. Carl Sagan
Founder and First President of The
Planetary Society
Carl Sagan played a leading role in the American
space program since its inception. He was a consultant and adviser to
NASA beginning in the 1950s, he briefed the Apollo astronauts before
their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner,
Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions to the planets. He helped solve
the mysteries of the high temperature of Venus (a massive greenhouse
effect), the seasonal changes on Mars (windblown dust) and the reddish
haze of Titan (complex organic molecules).
For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA Medals
for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and for Distinguished Public
Service twice, as well as the NASA Apollo Achievement Award.
Asteroid 2709 Sagan is named after him. He was
also given the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award of the American
Astronautical Society, the Explorers Club 75th Anniversary Award, the
Konstantin Tsiolokovsky Medal of the Soviet Cosmonautics Federation, and
the Masursky Award of the American Astronomical Society:
"...for his extraordinary contributions to the
development of planetary science... As a scientist trained in both
astronomy and biology, Dr. Sagan made seminal contributions to the
study of planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, the history of
the Earth, and exobiology. Many of the most productive planetary
scientists working today are his present and former students and
associates." He is also the 1994 recipient of the Public Welfare
Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences for
"distinguished contributions in the application of science to the
public welfare."
This award reads as follows:
"Carl Sagan has been enormously successful in
communicating the wonder and importance of science. His ability to
capture the imagination of millions and to explain difficult
concepts in understandable terms is a magnificent achievement."
Dr. Sagan served as Chairman of the Division of
Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, as President of
the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union, and as
Chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
For 12 years he was Editor in Chief of
Icarus,
the leading professional journal devoted to planetary research. He was
the co-founder and first President of The Planetary Society and a
Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
California Institute of Technology.
A Pulitzer Prize winner, Dr. Sagan was the author
of many
bestsellers, including
Cosmos, which became the best-selling science book ever published in
the English language. The accompanying Emmy and Peabody award-winning
television series has been seen by 500 million people in 60 countries.
He received 20 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities
for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the
preservation of the environment.
At the time of his death on December 20, 1996, he
served as the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and
Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University.
Dr. Sagan's
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark was
released by Random House in March 1996. A collection of writings called
Billions and Billions was published posthumously. He was co-producer
and co-writer of the acclaimed Warner Brothers movie
Contact,
based on his novel.
Copyright (c) 1999 The Planetary Society. All rights reserved.
Last Updated 02.11.1999 |
