Cosmos (Carl Sagan book)

Summary

Cosmos has 13 chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the original edition, each chapter is heavily illustrated. The book covers a broad range of topics, comprising Sagan's reflections on anthropological, cosmological, biological, historical, and astronomical matters from antiquity to contemporary times. Sagan reiterates his position on extraterrestrial life—that the magnitude of the universe permits the existence of thousands of alien civilizations, but no credible evidence exists to demonstrate that such life has ever visited earth. Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of science and civilization. He traces the origins of knowledge and the scientific method, mixing science and philosophy, and speculates about the future of science. He also discusses the underlying premises of science by providing biographical anecdotes about many prominent scientists, placing their contributions in the broader context of the development of modern science.

The book, like the television series, contains a number of Cold War undertones including subtle references to self-destruction and the futility of the arms race.

Style and contents

Cosmos utilizes a light, conversational tone to render complex scientific topics readable for a lay audience. On many topics, the book encompasses a more concise, refined presentation of previous ideas about which Sagan had written. One critic characterized the book as containing religious rhetoric in its descriptions of science and the universe. Peter Lawler, a political science professor, believes Sagan's religious rhetoric was very intentional. He believes Sagan uses images of God to describe what contact with extraterrestrial life may bring. Sagan also uses religious images as loose metaphors to help explain large, difficult concepts.

Cosmos is not just about the mysteries of space. Sagan leads every chapter with a philosophical quote to remind readers that the universe is not simply stars and planets, but a link between all things. He reminds readers that "we are all star stuff," and, though it seems humans are currently alone in space, the universe was not created for our race to thrive, but that we are a product of something much larger. Sagan's book explicitly supports the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life, as he believes the extraterrestrials will be able to spur an enormous change in life on Earth.

Popularity

Shortly after release, Cosmos became the best-selling science book ever published in the English language, and was the first science book to sell more than half a million copies. Though spurred in part by the popularity of the television series, Cosmos became a best-seller by its own regard, reaching hundreds of thousands of readers. It was only surpassed in the late 1980s by Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. Cosmos spent 50 weeks on the Publishers Weekly best-seller's list, and 70 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. Cosmos sold over 900,000 copies while on these lists, and continued popularity has allowed Cosmos to sell about five million copies internationally. Shortly after Cosmos was published, Sagan received a $2 million advance for the novel Contact. This was the largest release given for an unwritten fiction book at the time. The success of Cosmos made Sagan "wealthy as well as famous." It also ushered in a dramatic increase in visibility for science books, opening up new options and readership for the previously fledgling genre. Science historian Bruce Lewenstein of Cornell University noted that among science books "Cosmos marked the moment that something different was clearly going on."

After the success of Cosmos, Sagan turned into an early scientific celebrity. He appeared on many television programs, wrote a regular column for Parade, and worked to continually advance the popularity of the science genre.

Lewenstein also noted the power of the book as a recruitment tool. Along with Microbe Hunters and The Double Helix, he described Cosmos as one of the "books that people cite as 'Hey, the reason I'm a scientist is because I read that book'." Particularly in astronomy and physics, he said, the book inspired many people to become scientists. Sagan has also been called the "most successful popularizing scientist of our time," for his ability to draw such a large and varied audience.

The popularity of Sagan's Cosmos has been referenced in arguments supporting increased space exploration spending. Sagan's book was also referenced in Congress by Arthur C. Clarke in a speech promoting an end to Cold War anti-ICBM spending, instead arguing that the anti-ICBM budget would be better spent on Mars exploration.

Critical reception

Reception for Sagan's work was generally positive. In The New York Times Book Review, novelist James Michener praised Cosmos as "a cleverly written, imaginatively illustrated summary of [Sagan's]... ruminations about our universe... His style is iridescent, with lights flashing upon unexpected juxtapositions of thought." David Whitehouse of the British Broadcasting Corporation went so far as to say that "there is not a book on astronomy – in fact not one on science – that comes close to the eloquence and intellectual sweep of Cosmos... If we send just one book to grace the libraries of distant worlds..., let it be Cosmos." Kirkus Reviews described the book as "Sagan at his best." Cornell News Service characterized it as "an overview of how science and civilization grew up together." In 1981, Cosmos received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book.

The U.S. Library of Congress designated Cosmos one of eighty-eight books "that shaped America."