Carl Sagan

Quick-name a scientist!. Was your answer Carl Sagan? It probably was-no other person has brought so much science to the public. His loss to a rare disease four years ago left a void still unfilled by anyone else. His life in science and the workings of science itself are worthy of exploration by any educated person, and two biographies that have appeared over the last year serve that purpose well.I sampled Carl's life through William Poundstone's Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos (Henry Holt, 473 pages, paperback, $16) when it first appeared, just before the other book came to print. Having my appetite whetted, I purchased Davidson's book but let it sit on the shelf awhile-after all, how different could it be? How wrong I was!Poundstone's book indeed introduces the reader to all of the details of his life, but with a somewhat detached viewpoint, a workman-like effort. This is reflected in the chapter breaks arranged by years and location. Keay Davidson's Carl Sagan: A Life (Wiley, 540 pages, paperback,$18), on the other hand, gets emotionally involved with the story of Sagan's life, and weaves some themes among the details-not quite judgmental, but observant. Davidson makes his logical breaks at Sagan's projects and ideas. While this makes for some jumps and repeats, these are forgiven for his more interesting overall flow. Both authors are science writers of some note, and not scientists themselves.Read Poundstone for the science-it is complete and detailed. Particularly well done and relevant to recent NASA discoveries is the story of Carl's involvement in the Viking probes that looked for life on Mars in the 1970s. The disagreements on the choice of landing sites and the critical decisions on which experiments to repeat or change a bit between the limited number of runs reveal the tough choices that have to be made in science, often with insufficient information.Davidson's forte', however, is the flare for interpreting Sagan's vibrant personality and his personal life as revealed through both his public presence and private affairs. The author spends more time on Carl's books (including Pulitzer-winning Dragons of Eden), TV works (popular visits on Johnny Carson and his PBS hit, "Cosmos"), and movie (Contact, featuring a performance by Jodie Foster that would have pleased him greatly had he lived to see the film's completion). Yet, Carl's entry into the public arena was not always looked favorably upon by his peers. His having been rejected for tenure at Harvard and blackballed for membership in the prestigious National Academy of Science are certainly partially attributable to his limelight activities. I suspect his colleagues, with their nose to the grindstone of their often boring sub-sub-specialties were secretly envious of this rising star and generalist of science. Here was a man who studied the stars, warned of nuclear winter, got arrested in a protest, developed a "best of Earth" album to affix to the starbou

Carl Sagan : A Life in the Cosmos by William Poundstone; (see also my review at Carl Sagan : A Life by Keay Davidson - this review considers both books)Carl Sagan is easily the second most famous scientist of the 20th century. If you came of age in the period 1970-1990, you were influenced by Sagan - period. Whatever you may think of him as a scientist, you must admit that nobody did more to popularize science in the public eye during this period. The two most obvious examples are his Cosmos television series and his numerous appearances with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.Poundstone's book reflects Ann Druyan's influence much more than Davidson's. The result is a much more flattering account of Sagan's life, potentially minimizing some of the warts. Davidson, if anything, spends too much effort trying to psychohistorically analyze Sagan's two failed marriages and his fractured relationship with oldest son Dorion.Davidson also focuses much more attention on Sagan's books, attempting to plot the development of his career as a scientist and maturity as a writer based on each book's unique character. Here again, he attempts to delve below the surface into the hidden motives and influences. For instance, while both Poundstone and Davidson detail Sagan's marijuana use, Davidson goes further and suggests that the Pulitzer-winning Dragon's of Eden was largely a marijuana- induced work.William Poundstone Focuses more on his scientific achievements, with emphasis on the many conferences he chaired regarding SETI, exobiology, and his work on the Voyager and Mariner probes to Mars and the gas giants. Some of the reviews of the latter actually read like a popular scientific account of these missions, written around Sagan's contribution and perspective.A very rough generalization would be that Davidson looks more closely at Sagan's personal life while Poundstone looks more closely at his scientific achievemnts, though both books do cover the whole picture. Poundstone's book left me with more of a positive regard for Sagan though, and struck me as the better book of the two. Poundstone's account strikes me as first and foremost a work of scientific biography, with more detail of Sagan's scientific achievements.

I just finished the this biography the other night, having read it right after Keay Davidson's competing book. I admit I had to wipe away tears at the end of each. I thought both books were excellent, although I would give Poundstone a slight edge. I recommend that Sagan enthusiasts read both, and in the order I did--first Davidson, then Poundstone. Davidson's book is a little more linear and narrative, so it gives a better overview. Poundstone's is more detailed, being especially strong in discussion of the purely scientific aspects of Sagan's career. His coverage of the nuclear winter controversy is particularly good. On the other hand, Poundstone jumps around more, so it's easier to follow if you already have Davidson under your belt. The reason I give Poundstone the edge is that I feel he is more journalistically evenhanded than Davidson, who wastes no opportunity to advance his political agenda. Poundstone is careful to point out the strengths of the arguments of Sagan's opponents, while Davidson dismisses them summarily.

Many of us who knew Carl Sagan understood how he compartmentalized his complex life. Few had an inkling how rich, surprising, and often tragic it was; how Sagan faced down death;how he hurt and cut off many and helped more.For the reader, while rewarding to see that Sagan was a driven, and polymathic person (as a few of us knew well), it is also shocking and even distressing to see details of Sagan's private life up for ultimate scrutiny. In fairness, Poundstone was doing his job. In comparison, Davidson's competing bio of Sagan (also read by this reviewer)is a revolting escapade into several episodes of spiteful, foul-mouth invective, and marijuana haze, additionally peppered with unfortunate inaccuracies. I found no statements in error in Poundstone's book, although more than a few for which I could disagree upon his interpretation.Superb portions in this bio abound; in fact, the decription of Viking is the best I have seen; Poundstone took me back.A disappointment: Sagan's secretary, Shirley Arden, should have been front and center here, but shows up as a minor allusion. Shirley is a miracle worker, and for anyone interested in Sagan, it is salient to note her key role of support, editorial acumen, organizational savvy, surrogate mothering, and many other lovely attributes in making Carl Sagan a mensch.A bittersweet book of a remarkable life,all too short. Sagan is missed but Poundstone helps make sure he will not be forgotten.

The best book I've read all year. No matter how much you've read of and about Sagan, you need to read this book. Poundstone has done an excellent job of interviewing Sagan's family and associates. Most of the book reads like a novel. In the end, Sagan emerges as an admirable yet very complicated individual who played an important role in society. The book is also a capsule history of the space program and the search for extraterrestrial life. Highly recommended.