Mattison (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} agnosticoracle) wrote,@ 2006-12-20 14:14:00 |
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Carl Sagan and the Genisis of My Mind
Today is the 10th anniversary of Carl Sagan's death. I was twelve years old when Carl Sagan's Cosmos first broadcast on PBS. It is hard to measure its true impact on me. I was already fascinated by science and this was a show not only about science but about being fascinated by science.
I re-watched several of the episodes when it was re-broadcast on the Science Channel earlier this year. It was surprising how many ideas about history and the universe I got from there. The Miller-Urey Experiment was one I remember clearly but had forgotten where I first heard about it. This was the experiment where they recreated the atmosphere of early earth [water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen (H2)], added some energy heat and electricity, and waited a week. When they opened up the experiment they found many organic molecules (the building blocks of life). Abiogenesis has fascinated me ever since. See " I don't believe in this martian bacteria" for an example of some of the things it leads me to think about.
Cosmos repeatedly told the story of science vs ignorance. The story of the murder of Hypatia and the burning of the Library of Alexandria by 5th century Christians is one of the greatest crimes against knowledge of all time. The persecution of Galileo by 17th century Christians infuriates me to this day. Moving to more modern times Sagan dismisses astrology as the superstition it is and tells the story of common descent as the well established fact it is. The conflict between science and ignorance and I thank Sagan not merely for putting me on the side of reason, but for showing me the historical context of war.
The Drake equation and the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are what I remember most of both Sagan and Cosmos. In my youth this was the exciting possibility of discovering intelligent life. As I approach middle age this is the recognition that science is about testing and falsification. Sadly, I'm beginning to lean towards the position that if there are extra terrestrial aliens in nearby star systems they aren't using radio.
Commemorating the 10 year anniversary of Carl Sagan's passing, today is the Carl Sagan Memorial Blog-a-thon. Carl Sagan's effect on my life has been both subtle and radical. There was never an eureka or epiphany moment, but the root of many of my core beliefs developed in an intellectual environment he was a big part of. Sagan was my first exposure to what Dawkins would later call "science as poetry".
Today is the 10th anniversary of Carl Sagan's death. I was twelve years old when Carl Sagan's Cosmos first broadcast on PBS. It is hard to measure its true impact on me. I was already fascinated by science and this was a show not only about science but about being fascinated by science.
I re-watched several of the episodes when it was re-broadcast on the Science Channel earlier this year. It was surprising how many ideas about history and the universe I got from there. The Miller-Urey Experiment was one I remember clearly but had forgotten where I first heard about it. This was the experiment where they recreated the atmosphere of early earth [water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen (H2)], added some energy heat and electricity, and waited a week. When they opened up the experiment they found many organic molecules (the building blocks of life). Abiogenesis has fascinated me ever since. See " I don't believe in this martian bacteria" for an example of some of the things it leads me to think about.
Cosmos repeatedly told the story of science vs ignorance. The story of the murder of Hypatia and the burning of the Library of Alexandria by 5th century Christians is one of the greatest crimes against knowledge of all time. The persecution of Galileo by 17th century Christians infuriates me to this day. Moving to more modern times Sagan dismisses astrology as the superstition it is and tells the story of common descent as the well established fact it is. The conflict between science and ignorance and I thank Sagan not merely for putting me on the side of reason, but for showing me the historical context of war.
The Drake equation and the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are what I remember most of both Sagan and Cosmos. In my youth this was the exciting possibility of discovering intelligent life. As I approach middle age this is the recognition that science is about testing and falsification. Sadly, I'm beginning to lean towards the position that if there are extra terrestrial aliens in nearby star systems they aren't using radio.
Commemorating the 10 year anniversary of Carl Sagan's passing, today is the Carl Sagan Memorial Blog-a-thon. Carl Sagan's effect on my life has been both subtle and radical. There was never an eureka or epiphany moment, but the root of many of my core beliefs developed in an intellectual environment he was a big part of. Sagan was my first exposure to what Dawkins would later call "science as poetry".
