Photograph of Carl Sagan
Robert Reichert and Cornell University.

Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan is an American astronomer who was born in 1934. He is famous for his research on the start of life and his belief that life exists on other planets in the universe.

Sagan has played a leading role in the space program, and in the recent spacecraft voyages to Mars and other planets in our solar system.

Sagan passed away on December 20, 1996.


You might also be interested in:

Science, Evolution, and Creationism

How did life evolve on Earth? The answer to this question can help us understand our past and prepare for our future. Although evolution provides credible and reliable answers, polls show that many people turn away from science, seeking other explanations with which they are more comfortable....more

The Origin of Life on Earth

At one time or another, we've probably all wondered how life first got started. This is not an easy question! There are at least three kinds of explanations for how life on Earth began: 1) Life was created....more

Exploratour: NASA's Exploration for Life

Where might we find extraterrestrial life in the solar system, and in what ways might an habitable place be different from Earth? Warmth? It seems that the temperature on Earth (room temperature, so to...more

Scientists Who Studied Life

Carl Sagan Stephen J. Gould Marie Curie Charles Darwin Louis Pasteur Leonardo Da Vinci ...more

Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman was an American physicist who lived between 1918-1988. He is famous for his contributions in building the first nuclear bomb and for his work in understanding the way electrons behave....more

Stephen Jay Gould

Stephen Jay Gould was an American biologist who was born in 1941. He revised Darwin's theory of evolution, showing that it isn't the gradual process everyone had thought. Gould was a professor at Harvard...more

Evelyn Granville

Evelyn Granville is an American mathematician who was born in 1924. She was one of the first black women in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. She has helped NASA's Space Shuttle program...more

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is an English physicist who was born in 1942. He is famous for his work on black holes. Hawking suffers from a very serious illness and is confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak. He...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA