1980

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

Carl Sagan (1934–1996)

Astronomy and space exploration are interesting and exciting topics, yet throughout most of recent history, scientists have not been compelled or encouraged to share their discoveries (or, pointedly, their failures) with the public. Publishing their results in books or academic journals, or presenting their findings at scientific conferences, was usually seen as enough. Many even appeared to have a certain arrogance about their work—the public just wouldn’t understand, so why tell them?

Even in the 1960s and 1970s, when the huge public interest and international appeal of space exploration were heightened by the media coverage of the Apollo missions, it was still difficult for average folks to keep up with the latest observations and discoveries. In the United States, the three main broadcast TV networks aired mostly entertainment and news shows, and a fourth—the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)—aired a few good general-interest science shows, but nothing focusing on space.

It was against that backdrop that a new television series, focusing specifically on astronomy and space exploration and hosted by a charismatic and thought-provoking American astronomer named Carl Sagan, became a smash hit in 1980. The show, called Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, was the most watched PBS series in the world, and was seen by an audience of more than 500 million people. Through Cosmos, Sagan had an enthusiastic and educational conversation with the public about the latest observations and theories concerning some of the biggest questions we all ponder: What is going on up there? Where did it all come from? Why are we here? Are we alone?

Sadly, Sagan met significant resistance from many of his scientific contemporaries for his tireless work popularizing the value of science and space exploration, and was reportedly denied membership in the National Academy of Sciences because of the petty jealousies of other scientists. But Sagan’s ideals and legacy have since spread to a new generation of astronomers and planetary scientists (many who grew up watching Cosmos); his ideals have been promoted worldwide by members of a public space-advocacy organization called the Planetary Society, which he helped to found in 1980; and they have been embraced by a scientific community that now regards as essential the public communication and understanding of science in our modern world.

Carl Sagan—astronomer, planetary scientist, author, science popularizer, and host of the acclaimed television series Cosmos—next to a full-scale model of the Viking Mars lander in 1980.