Audiobooks by Carl Sagan

A Rare Recording of Astrophysicist Carl Sagan Discussing Planet Earth

Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 - December 20, 1996), born in Brooklyn, NY, was an American astronomer and astrophysicist. His best-known scientific contribution was his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by exposure to light. He assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. The following is a lecture Sagan gave in 1977 during which he discussed the place, scale and geometry of earth--the third planet from the Sun, formed 4.5 billion years ago--in our solar system.

Carl Sagan (Author), Carl Sagan (Narrator)

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Contacto

Contacto es la única novela escrita por el astrónomo estadounidense Carl Sagan, uno de los mayores divulgadores científicos del siglo XX. Tras cinco años de incesantes búsquedas con los dispositivos más sofisticados del momento, la astrónoma Eleanor Arroway consigue, junto a un equipo de científicos internacionales, conectar con la estrella Vega y demostrar que no estamos solos en el universo. Empieza entonces un trepidante viaje hacia el encuentro más esperado de la historia de la humanidad, y con él Carl Sagan plantea magistralmente cómo afectaría a nuestra sociedad la recepción de mensajes de una civilización inteligente. Contacto, Premio Locus 1986, desarrolla una de las constantes en la trayectoria del autor: la búsqueda de inteligencia extraterrestre y la comunicación con ella a través de sondas espaciales. En 1997, el director de cine Robert Zemeckisllevóesta historia a la gran pantalla, en una película protagonizada por Jodie Foster y Matthew McConaughey.

Carl Sagan (Author), Sol De La Barreda (Narrator)

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The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God

Carl Sagan's prophetic vision of the tragic resurgence of fundamentalism and the hope-filled potential of the next great development in human spiritualityThe late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design, and a new concept of science as 'informed worship.' Originally presented at the centennial celebration of the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland in 1985 but never published, this book offers a unique encounter with one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century. Introductory music from the original score for COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey composed by Alan Silvestri, used with permission from Cosmos Studios, Inc. and Chappers Music. All rights reserved. Special thanks to Fuzzy Planets, Inc.

Carl Sagan (Author), Adrienne C. Moore, Ann Druyan (Narrator)

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Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record

In August and September 1977, two remarkable spacecraft named Voyager were launched. After exploring Jupiter and Saturn, they left our solar system and now cruise for eons to come through the realms of other stars, other galaxies. Affixed to each craft is a gold-coated phonograph record, a message from Earth to possible extraterrestrial civilizations. By far the most complex and informative of all our attempts to communicate with other intelligences, the record contains, encoded in the audio spectrum, 117 pictures explaining our planet and ourselves; greetings in fifty-four different human languages and greetings from the humpback whales; a representative selection of "the sounds of Earth," from an avalanche to a rocket launching, from an elephant's trumpet to a kiss; and almost ninety minutes of some of the world's greatest music. The chance that the record will ever reach an extraterrestrial is remote, but this by no means diminishes the significance of its presence on Voyager. In this audiobook, the group that was responsible for making the record forty years ago explains how and-still more important-why they did it, and what they feel the record says not only to possible extraterrestrials but to human beings. "No one sends such a message on such a journey without a positive passion for the future. For all the possible vagaries of the message, any recipient could be sure that we were a species endowed with hope and perseverance, at least a little intelligence, substantial generosity and a palpable zest to make contact with the cosmos." -Carl Sagan **Please Contact Customer Service for Additional Documents**

Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan, F. D. Drake, Jon Lomberg, Linda Salzman Sagan, Timothy Ferris (Author), Ann Druyan, F. D. Drake, Jon Lomberg, Nick Sagan, Timothy Ferris (Narrator)

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The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

Thirty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list! Dr. Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insight into the brain of man and beast, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends-and their amazing links to recent discoveries. "How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and elegant book?...He talks about all kinds of things: the why of the pain of human childbirth...the reasons for sleeping and dreaming...chimpanzees taught to communicate in deaf and dumb language...the definition of death...cloning...computers...intelligent life on other planets...Fascinating...Delightful." -The Boston Globe "A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, to the day before yesterday...It's a delight." -The New York Times "In some lost Eden where dragons ruled, the foundations of our intelligence were laid...Carl Sagan takes us on a guided tour of the lost land...Fascinating...Entertaining...Masterful." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Carl Sagan (Author), Ann Druyan, JD Jackson (Narrator)

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Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science

A fascinating book on the joys of discovering how the world works, by the Pulitzer prize-winning author of Cosmos and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Carl Sagan, writer and scientist, returns from the frontier to tell us about how the world works. In his delightfully down-to-earth style, he explores and explains a mind-boggling future of intelligent robots, extraterrestrial life and its consequences, and other provocative, fascinating quandaries of the future that we want to see today. “Magnificent…Delightful…A masterpiece. A message of tremendous hope for humanity…While ever conscious that human folly can terminate man’s march unto the future, Sagan nonetheless paints for us a mind-boggling future: intelligent robots, the discovery of extraterrestrial life and its consequences, and above all the challenge and pursuit of the mystery of the universe.” –Chicago Tribune “Go out and buy this book, because Carl Sagan is not only one of the world’s most respected scientists, he’s a great writer…I can give a book no greater accolade than to say I’m planning on reading it again. And again. And again.” –The Miami Herald

Carl Sagan (Author), Dion Graham (Narrator)

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Comet

Comet, begins with a breathtaking journey through space astride a comet. Pulitzer Prize-winning astronomer Carl Sagan, author of Cosmos and writer Ann Druyan explore the origin, nature, and future of comets, and the exotic myths and portents attached to them. The authors show how comets have spurred some of the great discoveries in the history of science and raise intriguing questions about these brilliant visitors from the interstellar dark. Were the fates of the dinosaurs and the origins of humans tied to the wanderings of a comet? Are comets the building blocks from which worlds are formed? Comet is an enthralling adventure, indispensable for anyone who has ever gazed up at the heavens and wondered why. **Please Contact Customer Service for Additional Documents**

Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan (Author), Bahni Turpin, Seth MacFarlane (Narrator)

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Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium

In the final book of his astonishing career, Carl Sagan brilliantly examines the burning questions of our lives, our world, and the universe around us. These luminous, entertaining essays travel both the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of the human mind, posing such fascinating questions as how did the universe originate and how will it end, and how can we meld science and compassion to meet the challenges of the coming century? Here, too, is a rare, private glimpse of Sagan''s thoughts about love, death, and God as he struggled with fatal disease. Ever forward-looking and vibrant with the sparkle of his unquenchable curiosity, Billions & Billions is a testament to one of the great scientific minds of our day. **Please Contact Customer Service for Additional Documents**

Carl Sagan (Author), Adenrele Ojo, Ann Druyan (Narrator)

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Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

World renowned scientist Carl Sagan and acclaimed author Ann Druyan have written a Roots for the human species, a lucid and riveting account of how humans got to be the way we are. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a thrilling saga that starts with the origin of Earth. It shows with humor and drama that many of our key traits-self-awareness, technology, family ties, submission to authority, hatred for those a little different from ourselves, reason and ethics-are rooted in the deep past, and illuminated by our kinship with other animals. Sagan and Druyan conduct a breathtaking journey through space and time, zeroing in on critical turning points in evolutionary history and tracing the origins of sex, altruism, violence, rape, and dominance. Their book culminates in a stunningly original examination of the connection between primate and human traits. Astonishing in its scope, brilliant in its insights, and an absolutely compelling read, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a triumph of popular science. "Dazzling... A feast. Absorbing and elegantly written, it tells of the origins of life on earth, describes its variety and character, and culminates in a discussion of human nature and the complex traces of humankind's evolutionary past... It is an amazing story masterfully told." -Financial Times (London)

Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan (Author), Ann Druyan, Clinnette Minnis, Nick Sagan (Narrator)

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A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race

Carl Sagan and Richard Turco were instrumental in the discovery and development of the nuclear winter theory. Thirty-five years later, intensive scientific research has substantiated and confirmed the nuclear winter prediction of widespread cold and dark leading to environmental collapse and world famine after even a small nuclear war. In A Path Where No Man Thought, Sagan and Turco tell the personal story of their findings, and of their efforts to introduce sweeping reductions in the world''s nuclear arsenals. Such reform they argued then, would lead to greater political and military stability, a more just allocation of economic resources to human needs, and protect the human race from the deadly prospect of nuclear Armageddon. Now, in the age of terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons to unstable third world countries, nuclear war is once again a serious threat to global civilization. A Path Where No Man Thought is a tough minded, but hopeful view of man's capacity to call upon the better angels of our nature and turn away from the path leading to mankind's destruction. "The wave of moral outrage which Sagan has created must be directed against the evil of nuclear war itself, and not merely against its consequences."-Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. **Please Contact Customer Service for Additional Documents**

Carl Sagan, Richard Turco (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

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Pale Blue Dot

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time. Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race. "Takes readers far beyond Cosmos… Sagan sees humanity''s future in the stars." —Chicago Tribune

Carl Sagan (Author), Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan (Narrator)

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Cosmos

Cosmos is one of the bestselling science books of all time. In clear-eyed prose, Sagan reveals a jewel-like blue world inhabited by a life form that is just beginning to discover its own identity and to venture into the vast ocean of space. Featuring a new Introduction by Sagan’s collaborator, Ann Druyan, and a new Foreword by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos retraces the fourteen billion years of cosmic evolution that have transformed matter into consciousness, exploring such topics as the origin of life, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, spacecraft missions, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies, and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science. Includes introductory music: Heaven and Hell by Vangelis from Cosmos: A Personal Voyage used with permission from Druyan-Sagan Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

Carl Sagan (Author), Ann Druyan, LeVar Burton, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Seth MacFarlane (Narrator)

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