[phas-grad] [phas-dept] Fwd: Happy Carl Sagan day

[Carlos Bertulani]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "George R. Welch" <grw at tamu.edu>
Subject: Happy Carl Sagan day
Date: November 9, 2023 at 7:46:57 AM CST
To: Physics and Astronomy Faculty-Unmoderated <faculty-talk at physics.tamu.edu>

Howdy colleagues, and happy Carl Sagan Day!  Sagan, to my mind the greatest science communicator ever, was born 89 years ago today.

A truly gifted writer, Sagan is known for many things, but pushing NASA to direct Voyager to take the famous "Pale Blue Dot" photo may be among his most famous projects.

His words are perhaps the most profound in the history of the English language, and I think its worth, once a year, maybe on his birthday, to listen.

You will find many versions on YouTube, but I prefer the video I made back when I was teaching PHYS-123.  Here's a link.<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cloud.grwelch.com/index.php/s/KoWnw7TSNdx2jWq__;!!KwNVnqRv!HIqzSAz7kCiUzBrJ3t54QunvGv-gkmyLPs58Sw1LDv0WTeJhbAjtIimuKB7jl5HfYf9PDv6TC9_FWcBSJvMtzQ$>  Just three and a half minutes.  Give it a listen.

"... The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.  Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot."

Just wow.

--George

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