Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Carl Sagan is such a great writer. Even though I have a Ph.D., this book would be enjoyable to read for everyone. This book will forever change the way you think about your life and role in the universe in such a profound way. It also illustrates the importance of how special the earth is and why humans MUST be better caregivers and custodian to such a unique planet. Unfortunately based on current events, it seems that this book should be required reading in high schools. The pale blue dot image is always one of the most important photographs ever taken and the importance of those few pixels should be discussed more thoroughly in our culture and through the world. For this mote of dust is where humans must make their stand if we wish to continue to survive and prosper. We have no other choice. I wish our government would heed the warning.

I've read many of Carl Sagan's books and most are 5 stars (see my reviews). Here is another great book. Carl was able to go through a technical topic in a vast time line for the average layman to understand. He was a master at this.The Pale Blue Dot reads very well and INMO no boring parts. The reader wants to read on. The reader learns the "wanderers"...planets)our ancient ancestors knew. We see the progression of an Earth centered belief to a Sun centered belief, then to maybe our galaxy is the center of the universe to a total no center in the universe. Then possible many universes. He shows the various astronomers like Galileo, Copernicus and many more that helped shape our understanding of the Cosmos and the sometimes persecution they had to endure. Excellent photos of different planets, galaxies and stars. Also different spaceships from man's earliest to future ION powered craft. Carl gives new packages of knowledge for many different aspects of science, philosophy, physics and other human studies.Also a very interesting discussion of Near earth asteroids and comets and the potential of a catastrophic life ending collision. There is a discussion on SETI and the search for extraterrestrial life using radio transmission. A little for everyone. He also does a pro and con of the costs of space exploration and the needs for help against human suffering and the need to expand the human race onto Mars, the asteroids, moons of the outer planets, the Oort cloud, to the nearest stars and beyond, and to new galaxies. By so doing we don't have all our eggs in one bracket and have diversity if there is a cataclysm to our Earth, solar system, our nearest habitable star system or galaxy. Carl asks many questions and about where the human race is going if we don't destroy ourselves and the many endangered species on Earth. Do we have the right to go to other worlds? Would we endanger alien life? Should we stay home and try to fix earth's many problems or MUST we go exploring and eventually colonizing other worlds. Many other thought provoking questions. This book would be a good read for many with different interests. 5 stars. One of Sagan's best books. Sadly Carl Sagan passes away. A true genius the likes of which we don't see too often. As an amateur astronomer of 40 years I knew of Carl Sagan and even though he didn't know of me, I considered him a friend.

Pale Blue Dot is a non-fiction and is Sagan’s analysis of the role space will play in humanity’s future. It was written in 1994, and therefore one of his last publications, as Sagan tragically died in 1996. The title of the book, Pale Blue Dot, was taken from the instantly infamous Pale Blue Dot photograph taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. In his book, Sagan created a short analysis of the importance of the human exploration of space. His reasons range from spin-off technology to the intrinsic value of exploration and discovery. But what struck me the most about Sagan’s book was that although he talked extensively about these as, in general, good reasons to explore space, they weren’t the best reason. Or rather, they weren’t enough. Sagan goes on to argue that the single greatest reason to explore space is the survival of the species. Something as an individual I haven't ever really thought of. It is possible that we could destroy ourselves through nuclear war, yes, but that’s not the survival Sagan is talking about. He’s speaking about asteroids. There is a chance that at some point in the future a rock big enough to destroy human life will collide with Earth. Exploring space and developing new technologies is the only way to search out and redirect incoming asteroids. If incoming asteroids cannot be redirected it is important to the species that we have settled elsewhere. Really great book, highly recommend it.

Another Sagan title to read for our book club. He’s a good Author.

This is a must for everyone who lusts after The Overview Effect and seeks to find a high enough perch from which to appreciate it.

One of my favorite books; it reads like a poetry. I actually read it and hear Carl Sagan's voice. If you are into the "sciency and spacy" stuff, it is the "must have." Oh, yeah... almost forgot - and good edition, too.

Carl Sagen was a great communicator. His talent lies in taking a difficult subject (astrophysics) and explaining it in a fashion that is not only accessible to everyone but also exciting. The book is filled with images that invoke wonder and passages that inspire anyone interested in what lies beyond our atmosphere. This book invites the reader to look outward into the cosmos, and inward at our humanity.

One of those books that educates without boring people. Wonderful writing and in understandable language. Hopefully someone like Neil degrasse Tyson can possibly update it with the latest information since the book's publication in 1994. Even so it is truly worth the read. Most of the content is still relevant today.

She really liked it and seemed to like reading it. Exactly as expected

This book provides a different perspective to many of life questions in a brilliant and scientific way. Easy to read and understand. A gifted author in many ways.

This book by Carl Sagan is a gem of all books. It has brilliant illustrations of fundamentals and high level physics of universe. I purchased this for my sister and she is loving it. Keep it up Amazon and keep bringing such excellent books.. I would definitely recommend this one for all astronomical physics enthusiasts out there..

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邦題は「惑星へ」となっていますが、ここに綴られたセーガン博士の思いは、今や数多くのビデオ（You Tube）が製作されたように、人類の思いが、言葉（英語）という媒体となって宇宙へ向けられたかのようです。その前に、私たち人類が共感し、思いを一つにしなければならないと博士は独白します。邦題が邦題だけに、原文の英語で読んだ方が、その思いが強烈に伝わってきます。残念ながら私には英文読解の基礎がないため、セーガン博士の朗読したテープを聞きながら目で追っています（2015年にはやっとCD化されます） ずっしりと重いハードカバーなので、電車の中で「英語の勉強」として読むことができません。翻訳された「惑星へ」も良いですが、できればセーガン博士の朗読と共に、原文に目を落とすことをお勧めします。