If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
卡尔·萨根对科学和社会的诸多方面都有重大。深远的贡献，并且影响了全世界数以亿计的人们。他在行星科学领域所作的重要研究，与美国的空间计划密切相联；他还编创了受到高度评价的电视系列片《宇宙》，并且是普利策奖的获得者以及许多畅销科普书的作者，《卡尔·萨根的宇宙》是一本引人入胜、插图精美的文集，它由多位作者撰写，涵盖了萨根为之献身的科学、教育、政策制定以及相关的许多领域。
天文学家大概是最像大祭司的人。
卡尔萨根就是现代的大祭司，他的名头是美国康奈尔大学行星研究中心的主任，加州理工喷气推进实验室的科学家，也是一位伟大的科普作家，其名作《宇宙》销量超过七百万册。
祭司在古代仰观天象，参悟宇宙奥妙，建立世界观，为帝王提供天气和宇宙情报，其中不乏极度智慧之人。
这一工作在现代则变成了名为天文学的科学，卡尔萨根就象一位大祭司一样向我们描述了宇宙了前生今世，在《宇宙》这本书里，他详细描述对宇宙的理解，十分有趣，读之让人尘心尽去，尽情畅想宇宙的奥妙。
其中关于宇宙的起源和前景问题，他归纳为两种，一种认为，宇宙在１００亿到２００亿年前被创造出来，永远不停的膨胀，星系相互远离，最后宇宙成为一缕冷薄的基本粒子的烟雾，
另一种学说是振荡宇宙学说，大爆炸--扩张--冷却--塌陷--再次大爆炸，宇宙既无始也无终。我们这些可怜的小生命只不过是数亿光年和时间里无足轻重的小点。我们处于宇宙死亡和再生的无限循环，没有任何信息可以流过种振荡的临界点（大爆炸），宇宙前一化身中演化的星系和生命形式、文明无一能够跨越临界点，并颤悠地飘过大爆炸而为我们现今的宇宙所知。
第二种学说听上去颇有哲学意味，古代哲学中有一些对宇宙的看法是无始无终，永恒循环，而尼采也曾有过关于永恒循环的想法。
其中一个让我感兴趣的说法是：信息无法跨越临界点。这个说法不知是怎么来的，我很想知道。试想，我们生命系统最核心的信息无疑是ＤＮＡ，ＤＮＡ主导了生命的功能和延续，如果把宇宙当成一个系统，它会有什么样的信息编码？
这个信息编码真的无法象生命的信息那样通过DNA传递吗?如果它能跨越临界点，那会是什么样？
The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean 8.0
播出日期: 1980-09-28
运行时间: 60 min
概述: At the beginning of this cosmic journey across space and time, Dr. Carl Sagan takes us to the edge of the universe aboard a spaceship of the imagination. Through beautiful special effects, we witness quasars, exploding galaxies, star clusters, supernovas and pulsars.
Returning to our solar system, we enter a re-creation of the Alexandrian Library, the seat of learning on Earth 2,000 years ago.
One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue 8.2
播出日期: 1980-10-05
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Dr. Sagan's cosmic calendar makes the history of the universe understandable and frames the origin of the Earth and the evolution of life. We see the evolutionary process unfold, from microbes to humans.
Our understanding of how life developed on Earth enables us to venture to other worlds for imaginative speculations on what forms life might take elsewhere.
Harmony of the Worlds 7.6
播出日期: 1980-10-12
运行时间: 60 min
概述: This episode is a historical re-creation of the life of Johannes Kepler, the last scientific astrologer, the first modern astronomer and the author of the first science fiction novel.
Kepler provided the insight into how the moon and the planets move in their orbits and ultimately how to journey to them. It's also a story about the scientific process of discovery, and how the search for truth is never easy but always worthwhile.
Heaven and Hell 8.0
播出日期: 1980-10-19
运行时间: 60 min
概述: A descent through the hellish atmosphere of Venus to explore its broiling surface serves as a warning to our world about the possible consequences of the increasing greenhouse effect.
Then Dr. Sagan leads us on a tour of our solar system to see how other heavenly bodies have suffered from various cosmic catastrophes.
Blues for a Red Planet 8.3
播出日期: 1980-10-26
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Is there life on Mars? Dr. Sagan takes viewers on a tour of the red planet first through the eyes of science fiction authors, and then through the unblinking eyes of two Viking spacecrafts that have sent thousands of pictures of the stunning Martian landscape back to Earth since 1976. Though based on older Mars missions, Sagan's analysis still holds true.
Travellers' Tales 8.3
播出日期: 1980-11-02
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Dr. Sagan compares the exhilaration of 17th-century Dutch explorers who ventured in sailing ships halfway around our planet in their quest for wealth and knowledge to an inside view of the excitement around Voyager's expeditions to Jupiter and Saturn.
The newly acquired treasures of our present golden age of exploration are the focus of this episode.
The Backbone of Night 8.0
播出日期: 1980-11-09
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Humans once thought the stars were campfires in the sky and the Milky Way "the backbone of night."
In this fascinating segment Dr. Sagan takes us back to ancient Greece, when the basic question "what are the stars?" was first asked. He visits the Brooklyn elementary school of his childhood, where this same question is still on students' minds.
Journeys in Space and Time 8.3
播出日期: 1980-11-16
运行时间: 60 min
概述: A voyage to see how star patterns change over millions of years is followed by a journey to the planets of other stars, and a look at the possibility of time travel.
This takes us to Italy, where a young Albert Einstein first wondered what it would be like to ride on a beam of light.
The Lives of the Stars 7.9
播出日期: 1980-11-23
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Using computer animation and amazing astronomical art, Dr. Sagan shows how stars are born, live, die and sometimes collapse to form neutron stars or black holes.
We then journey into the future to witness "the last perfect day on Earth," 5 billion years from now, after which the sun will engulf our planet in the fires of its death throes.
The Edge of Forever 8.3
播出日期: 1980-11-30
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Dr. Sagan leads us on some awesome trips — to a time when galaxies were beginning to form, to India to explore the infinite cycles of Hindu cosmology, and to show how humans of this century discovered the expanding universe and its origin in the big bang.
He disappears down a black hole and reappears in New Mexico to show us an array of 17 telescopes probing the farthest reaches of space.
The Persistence of Memory 7.9
播出日期: 1980-12-07
运行时间: 60 min
概述: The brain is the focus of this fascinating portion of our journey as Dr. Sagan examines another of the intelligent creatures with whom we share the planet Earth — whales.
Then we wind through the maze of the human brain to witness the architecture of thought. We see how genes, brains and books store the information necessary for human survival.
Encyclopedia Galactica 8.0
播出日期: 1980-12-14
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Are there alien intelligences? How could we communicate with them? What about UFOs? The answers to these questions take us to Egypt to decode ancient hieroglyphics, to the largest radio telescope on Earth and, in the Spaceship of the Imagination, to visit other civilizations in space.
Dr. Sagan answers questions such as: "What is the life span of a planetary civilization?" and "Will we one day hook up with a network of civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy?"
Who Speaks for Earth? 8.1
播出日期: 1980-12-21
运行时间: 60 min
概述: Through the use of special effects we retrace the 15-billion-year journey from the big bang to the present. We also hear the tragic story of the martyrdom of Hypatia, the woman scientist of ancient Alexandria.
This is the famous episode on nuclear war in which Dr. Sagan argues that our responsibility for survival is owed not just to ourselves, but also to the cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.
