Voice of America
DATE=2/28/97
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-35835
TITLE=SAGAN MEMORIAL
BYLINE=MAX RUSTON
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: AMERICAN ASTRONOMER CARL SAGAN WAS CONSIDERED BY MANY PEOPLE TO BE THE GREATEST SCIENTIST OF HIS GENERATION. HE ACHIEVED INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE AS A TEACHER, AUTHOR, ENVIRONMENTALIST AND PEACE-MAKER -- BUT DIED IN DECEMBER AT THE GE OF 62 OF PNEUMONIA, AFTER SUFFERING FROM BONE MARROW CANCER FOR TWO YEARS. V-O-A'S MAX RUSTON REPORTS ON A MEMORIAL SERVICE HELD FOR THE LATE SCIENTIST THIS WEEK (2/28) IN NEW YORK.
TEXT:
THE MEMORIAL SERVICE, IN NEW YORK'S SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE CATHEDRAL, DREW HUNDREDS OF WELL-KNOWN PERSONALITIES, INCLUDING SCIENTISTS, POLITICIANS, RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND ORDINARY PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE TOUCHED BY MR. SAGAN. U-S VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE WAS AMONG THOSE AT THE CEREMONY.
HE WAS SOMETIMES CALLED A POPULARIZER BY SOME IN THE ACADEMY, WHO PRONOUNCED THE WORD WITH DISDAIN. BUT, HE WORE THE LABEL AS A MEDAL OF HONOR. POPULARIZING SCIENCE WAS SIMPLY MAKING IT ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE AND LIGHTING UP THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO HEARD HIM.
CARL SAGAN WAS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN AS THE NARRATOR OF A SCIENCE PROGRAM CALLED "COSMOS", WHICH WAS BROADCAST TO AN ESTIMATED 500 MILLION PEOPLE IN MORE THAN 60 NATIONS. THE SON OF A RUSSIAN IMMIGRANT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN AMERICAN NVIRONMENTALISTS, AND PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ESTABLISHING FRIENDLY TIES BETWEEN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE SOVIET UNION DURING THE COLD WAR.
ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES, PHYSICS PROFESSOR PHILIP MORRISON, FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, TRACED MR. SAGAN'S PASSION FOR SCIENCE TO HIS UPBRINGING IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
THE TWO CHIEF MODES OF THOUGHT FOR SCIENCE, SAGAN SAID, WERE PRACTICED IN HIS HOUSEHOLD DAILY. ONE WAS THE NEED AND APPRECIATION OF QUESTIONING. DO NOT JUST ACCEPT SOMETHING. FIND OUT HOW IT IS SAID AND WHY IT IS KNOWN. SECOND, DO NOT LOSE THAT SENSE OF WONDER WHEN YOU SEE HOW THIS KNOWLEDGE UNFOLDS.
ONE REASON MR. SAGAN BECAME SO WELL KNOWN IS THAT HIS INFLUENCE STRETCHED BEYOND SCIENCE INTO MANY OTHER FIELDS, INCLUDING RELIGION. THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATES, JOAN CAMPBELL, REMEMBERED MR. SAGAN FOR HIS ABILITY TO ESTABLISH COMMON TIES AND COOPERATION BETWEEN FIELDS THAT WERE OFTEN IN CONFLICT.
HE WOULD SAY TO ME WITH A SMILE, "YOU ARE SO SMART, WHY DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?" AND, I WOULD SAY TO HIM, "YOU ARE SO SMART, WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?" HE WOULD WINK, AND MUTUAL RESPECT GREW AND DEEPENED INTO TRUST AND GENUINE FONDNESS AND AN UNLIKELY YET PROFOUND FRIENDSHIP.
NEARLY ALL OF THE SPEAKERS AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE MENTIONED A PARTICULAR OBSERVATION MR. SAGAN MADE ABOUT THE EARTH AND ITS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE. MR. SAGAN, IN AN AUDIO TAPED BOOK, SPOKE OF THE EARTH, SEEN FROM OUTER SPACE, AS A TINY BLUE DOT.
CONSIDER AGAIN THAT DOT. THAT IS HERE. THAT IS HOME. THAT IS US. ON IT EVERYONE YOU LOVE, EVERYONE YOU KNOW, EVERYONE YOU EVER HEARD OF, EVERY HUMAN BEING WHO EVER WAS HAS LIVED OUT THEIR LIVES; THE AGGREGATE OF OUR JOY AND SUFFERINGS, THOUSANDS OF CONFIDENT RELIGIONS IDEOLOGIES AND ECONOMIC DOCTRINES, EVERY HUNTER AND FORAGER, EVERY HERO AND COWARD, EVERY CREATOR AND DESTROYER OF CIVILIZATION, EVERY KING AND PEASANT, EVERY YOUNG COUPLE IN LOVE ...
AND IN THIS RECORDING OF MR. SAGAN DISCUSSING HIS OWN OBSERVATIONS, THE WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTIST URGED PEOPLE TO PROTECT THEIR PLANET -- A PLEA HE REPEATED THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.
...OUR POSTURINGS, OUR IMAGINED SELF IMPORTANCE, THE DELUSION THAT WE HAVE SOME PRIVILEGED POSITION IN THE UNIVERSE, ARE CHALLENGED BY THIS POINT OF PALE LIGHT. OUR PLANET IS A LONELY SPECK IN THE GREAT ENVELOPING COSMIC DARK. IN OUR OBSCURITY, IN ALL THIS VASTNESS, THERE IS NO HINT THAT HELP WILL COME FROM ELSEWHERE TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES.
THE LATE ASTRONOMER CARL SAGAN, REMEMBERED AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE.
(SIGNED)
NEB/NY/MPR/LSF/MMK
28-Feb-97 3:13 PM EST (2013 UTC)
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