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Date: December 22, 2009

Title: A Tribute to Carl Sagan

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Podcaster: Carolyn Collins Petersen

Organization: Loch Ness Productions
Music by Geodesium

Description: Carolyn Collins Petersen, TheSpacewriter, shares her thoughts about and experiences with Dr. Carl Sagan, one of the best-known science popularizers of the late 20th century.

Bio: Carolyn Collins Petersen is a science writer and show producer for Loch Ness Productions, a company that creates astronomy documentaries and other materials. She works with planetariums, science centers, and observatories on products that explain astronomy and space science to the public. Her most recent projects were the Griffith Observatory astronomy exhibits in Los Angeles and the California’s Altered State climate change exhibits for San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences. She has co-authored several astronomy books, written many astronomy articles, and is currently working on a new documentary show for fulldome theaters, a vodcast series for MIT’s Haystack Observatory, and a podcast series for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Today’s sponsor: This episode of 365 Days of Astronomy is sponsored by Loch Ness Productions, a unique multimedia production company specializing in cosmically creative content and space music for planetarium and fulldome theaters worldwide. Loch Ness Productions also works with exhibit designers, observatories, science institutions and publishers to bring a love of astronomy, Earth science, and space science to audiences everywhere. On the web at LochNessProductions.com

Transcript:

Hello. I’m Carolyn Collins Petersen, the Spacewriter.

When people find out I studied astronomy and that I write about the stars, they almost always ask about who got me interested in the subject. And, I’m always happy to tell them about the people who influenced me skyward. The first one was my father — he’d take me out to look at the sky when I was a little girl. Throughout the years, he’s never stopped looking up, and neither have I.

Then, there’s my mother – she encouraged me to read whenever I could, and so I spent my childhood reading about space and exploring the world of science fiction.

My husband, Mark Petersen, is another one: he and I used to go stargazing together when we were first dating, and he’s always been the biggest supporter of my writing career.

When I went back to graduate school, my advisor and co-author, Jack Brandt, pushed me to be the best writer and astronomer I could be.

But, there was another person whose life and work provided me with the impetus take that leap back to school and study astronomy just so I COULD be the writer and producer that I am today. He was a seminal influence for many astronomers and science writers. That man was Dr. Carl Sagan.

I first met Dr. Sagan when I was an undergraduate student. He came to the university for a meeting and gave several lectures to astronomy students. I remember he stayed and answered questions for a long time after the talk, and he was a patient and gifted speaker.

Well, fast forward a few years and I was sitting in my living room waiting for the premiere of a new PBS series called Cosmos. We’d heard it was supposed to be the coolest exploration of space and astronomy and it was hosted by that same professor I’d met back in the ‘70s — Dr. Car; Sagan.

As soon as the opening music for Cosmos started — and we saw Dr. Sagan in his ship of the imagination – I was hooked. Not just on the science he was discussing, but on the very audacity of talking about astronomy and space exploration in a wondrous way — a fun way, a way that really stimulated people’s imaginations. Where else could you explore the elements of the cosmos through a bite of apple pie? Learn about evolutionary factors that influenced the shape of a crab? Or, travel through regions of star birth and star death?

By the end of the series, I knew that I wanted to study astronomy further, and do whatever I could to bring astronomy to audiences — just as Carl Sagan did in both the Cosmos series… and the book.

Throughout the years I’ve read most of Sagan’s other books. The first was Dragons of Eden. The most recent was Demon-Haunted World. And of course, I read Contact, even before I’d seen the movie.

But, of all Carl Sagan’s works, Cosmos remains the benchmark by which I measure my own work in bringing the stars to audiences. It probably remains for others to say how well I’ve done that — but the joy for me has been in meeting the challenges Dr. Sagan laid out – challenges that a whole generation of scientists, science writers and science popularizers are still striving to meet.

When I was in graduate school, I had some other chances to meet Dr. Sagan — along with his coauthor and wife, Ann Druyan. The last time was at a meeting in Hawai’i a year or so before Carl died. We had a chance to chat for a short while before he headed out to another paper session.

There were so many things I wanted to say to this man who had influenced so many of us to a love of the stars. I wanted to thank him for all the inspiration he’d provided, for the impetus he unknowingly gave when I first saw Cosmos, and for the example he set when he found out he’d been diagnosed with the disease that eventually took him away from us.

I tried not to be too much of a fangirl, and we did have a wonderful chat. At the end, we shook hands and upon our parting, I thanked him for everything and wished him the best.

Dr. Carl Sagan died on December 20, 1996, of myelodysplasia. But, he’s not totally gone. His legacy lives on in the many people who were inspired by his life and work. If you haven’t watched Cosmos yet, or read any of Dr. Sagan’s works – I recommend that you do. You’ll be inspired and touched, even as you delight in learning more about the universe.

In closing, I’d like to express my gratitude for the visions of science Carl Sagan shared with all of us. He pointed the way toward a greater enjoyment and understanding of the cosmos. Thank you, Carl. Your work and legacy live on in the people you inspired.

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For more information about Dr. Carl Sagan, point your browser to www.thespacewriter.com/wp and click on the 365 Days of Astronomy tab. Thank you for listening .

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365 Days of Astronomy
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