Carl Sagan

COSMOS

Discovery Science Channel yesterday ran a COSMOS marathon.  Non-stop Carl Sagan.  When Sagan stuck to the mechanics of space, he did a pretty good job as a teacher. I loved learning about stuff that had heretofore eluded my pea-brain. Harrah to that Carl.  The problem was, he couldn't stop himself.  I was busy yesterday, and only caught bits and snatches, but strung together they tell a story. Here's Sagan explaining Venus.  All early astronomers could see was a calm, vapor-like cloud, which caused speculation that it was water vapor.  If Venus was that steamy, it's entirely possible that Venus is a hot, swampy place, with lots of vegetation, and possibly even dinosaurs, they concluded. We now know those clouds are sulfuric acid vapor, and that Venus is the most likely candidate for being the actual Hell.  But, as Sagan noted, by not being able to see anything, it was an easy jump to dinosaurs.  Good point. Here's Sagan discussing the Ionians, helpless before the forces of nature.  Yup.  Good point. Ain't we all? Here's Sagan the pompous pontificator.  Now, it's nature that's helpless before the forces of mankind.  He uses pictures of burning oil wells, and the Exxon Valdez to make the point that modern man has gone too far. In 1990 -- he would die 6 years later -- Carl was part of a media onslaught against Operation Desert Storm.  I remember a 60-Minutes edition where, after Ted Kennedy predicted 300, 000 dead Americans, or so, Sagan described what would happen to Earth  if Saddam Hussein torched his oil  wells.  He used graphs, charts and animation to predict something akin to a nuclear winter.  There was another, lesser known scientist who disagreed with Sagan, but Carl had the gravitas.  I'm sure lots of folks lost sleep that night. Here's what happened. After Saddam torched his oil wells, we sent in some American engineers who put the fires out, and a few days later it was, yawn, all over. Sunshine and desert sand.  Sagan was as wrong as wrong can be.  The other guy was right, but I don't even remember who it was.  Then there's the Exxon Valdez.  This is all I'll say about that.  "The environmental disaster was the cleanup," Sagan did a lot of damage to young minds too, because he saw dinosaurs where none existed.  I think some of those minds belong to my kids. :(.