Synopses & Reviews
A penetrating, mesmerizing biography of a scientific icon
"Absolutely fascinating . . . Davidson has done a remarkable job."-Sir Arthur C. Clarke
"Engaging . . . accessible, carefully documented . . . sophisticated."-Dr. David Hollinger for The New York Times Book Review
"Entertaining . . . Davidson treats [the] nuances of Sagan's complex life with understanding and sympathy."-The Christian Science Monitor
"Excellent . . . Davidson acts as a keen critic to Sagan's works and their vast uncertainties."-Scientific American
"A fascinating book about an extraordinary man."-Johnny Carson
"Davidson, an award-winning science writer, has written an absorbing portrait of this Pied Piper of planetary science. Davidson thoroughly explores Sagan's science, wrestles with his politics, and plumbs his personal passions with a telling instinct for the revealing underside of a life lived so publicly."-Los Angeles Times
Carl Sagan was one of the most celebrated scientists of this century--the handsome and alluring visionary who inspired a generation to look to the heavens and beyond. His life was both an intellectual feast and an emotional rollercoaster. Based on interviews with Sagan's family and friends, including his widow, Ann Druyan; his first wife, acclaimed scientist Lynn Margulis; and his three sons, as well as exclusive access to many personal papers, this highly acclaimed life story offers remarkable insight into one of the most influential, provocative, and beloved figures of our time--a complex, contradictory prophet of the Space Age.
Review
"Davidson gets underneath the skin to expose the personal, emotional and intimate details of Sagan's life, showing him both as a scientist, husband, lover and father. Brilliant." (Yorkshire Post, 9th November 2000)
"This biography is authoritative, interesting and entertaining. Every space enthusiast should read it." (Spaceflight, November 2001)
Review
From Publishers Weekly In a superbly researched biography of one of the 20the century's most influential yet controversial scientists, Davidson (coauthor, Wrinkles in Time) leaves no doubt about where he feels his subject stands. "What is a visionary?" he asks in the closing chapter. "Carl Sagan measured time in eons and space in light years; he maintained an interplanetary perspective." Though many of Davidson's anecdotes echo those in William Poundstone's Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos (reviewed above), he actively guides readers to conclusions, where Poundstone merely lays out the facts. Though not avoiding Sagan's many failings as a person, Davidson never allows his readers to lose sight of the grand visions, brilliant insights and brash speculations that inspired and educated Sagan's audiences. The book is at its strongest when it shows the inner Sagan through his most influential works: the Pulitzer Prize-winning Dragons of Eden; the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television series Cosmos; his SF novel Contact; and his scientific publications about the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus, the windblown dust responsible for "waves of darkening" on Mars and the threat of "nuclear winter" after a limited nuclear war on earth. The volume is weakest when, instead of holding Sagan responsible for his sometimes arrogant behavior, it offers excuses from pop psychology. Though nonscientific readers may find Davidson's biography sufficient, naturally skeptical scientific readers may find its conclusions too firm for comfort. They should read Poundstone first, then turn to Davidson to complete the picture.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal Both of these books portray astronomer Carl Sagan as a man of immense paradoxes. A charismatic public persona, he could be arrogant and demanding in his personal life. Fiercely amibitious, he still had a powerful sense of civic duty. An outspoken defender of scientific methods, he was also a UFO enthusiast and obsessed with the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In some ways, each of these books represents a different side of the man. First, the similarities. Both authors are respected science popularizers. Both books are quite substantial, relying to a large degree on interviews with those who knew Sagan. Thus, there is considerable overlap between themAperhaps as much as 80 percent. Of the remaining, about 15 percent of Poundstone is totally unique material. His is the more exhaustive and detailed account, especially when discussing Sagan's original scientific work and influences. What Davidson may lack comparatively in content is more than made up for in style, though. While Poundstone plods in places, Davidson is lively, literary, and sometimes refreshingly speculative. Poundstone's version comes closer to being definitive and will probably have a longer shelf life, but Davidson's is more fun to read. Overall, Davidson's version seems truer to its subject, for with Sagan science and showmanship were inseparable. Let's split the difference and suggest that Poundstone's version is more appropriate for academic libraries, while Davidson's may find a larger audience in public libraries.AGregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Kirkus Reviews Another bio of the flamboyant astronomer and creator of Cosmos (see William Poundstone, p. 1391), from a veteran science writer (coauthor with George Smoot of Wrinkles in Time, 1993). Davidson credits Sagan's influential Intelligent Life in the Universe, a collaboration with Russian astronomer I.S. Shklovskii, with awakening his own interest in science. He recognizes Sagan as a great popularizer, one of the preeminent translators of scientific ideas into the vernacular of his day. At the same time, he clearly distrusts the myth that Sagan often seemed to personify, that of the scientist as a sort of modern high priest, omniscient and above the fray. In this spirit, the biography often seems to be recounting Sagan's career with an eye to undercutting that myth, if not necessarily the man himself. Thus the digs at Big Science, where political acumen counts for as much as research ability; the quotation of derogatory remarks from Sagan's former friends (e.g., Harold Blum, who called his prose style phony'); and hints that there were deep-seated irrational elements behind the cool surface of Sagan's science. Sagan was clearly a man who made enemies as easily as friends, and Davidson has sought out both camps. The resulting portrait is not so much a debunking of Sagan, however, as a highlighting of certain qualities that might have increased his popular appeal. The nuclear winter' episode, in which Sagan and several colleagues argued that even a limited' nuclear war might lead to the extermination of human life, showed Sagan as an eminent scientific expert, paradoxically arguing that the issues involved were too important to leave to the experts. Likewise, in many ways Sagan's constant advocacy of the search for life beyond Earththe central science-fictional dreamwas a key to the space program's becoming hard reality. In the end, Davidson argues, Sagan's influence in such matters may count for more than any of his books. A smoothly written, sometimes critical look at a leading scientific figure of our time. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review "Davidson gets underneath the skin to expose the personal, emotional and intimate details of Sagan's life, showing him both as a scientist, husband, lover and father. Brilliant." (Yorkshire Post, 9th November 2000)
"This biography is authoritative, interesting and entertaining. Every space enthusiast should read it." (Spaceflight, November 2001)
About the Author
KEAY DAVIDSON is an award-winning science reporter for the San Francisco Examiner and has written feature articles for National Geographic and New Scientist. He coauthored the critically acclaimed book Wrinkles in Time with George Smoot. He lives in San Francisco, California.
Table of Contents
Brooklyn.
Chicago.
The Dungeon.
High Ground.
California.
Harvard.
Mars and Manna.
Mr. X.
Gods Like Men.
The Shadow Line.
The Dragons of Eden.
Annie.
Cosmos.
Contact.
The Value of L.
Look Back, Look Back.
Hollywood.
The Night Freight.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.