quinta-feira, 7 de novembro de 2013

Carl Sagan Day

 
                  Today we celebrate Carl Sagan Day, a day dedicated to one of the greatest man of our century and someone I learned to admire since I was a child  and a day to celebrate the beauty of science and inquiry. Carl Edward Sagan Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and author. According to the Wikipedia website, he is best known for his contributions to the scientific research of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. For me, he is “best known” for writing the book Cosmos, that my cousin and journalist Luciana Cantão (with the permission of her mother), lend me to read it when I was teen. What a brand-new world! The reading was a great delight for me! After that, I found out that the book was part of the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote. Absolutely fantastic! 
                In 2001, when I started working as a teacher in a regular school, Aiael, the Geography teacher, gave me a very meaningful text, that shows how important is the teacher’s role in awakening the student's curiosity to learn anything. The text was an excerpt from the book "The Demon-Haunted World", published in 1995 (no Brasil, O Mundo Assombrado pelos Demônios - A Ciência vista como uma vela no escuro, lançado em 1997). This text was so important to me, it touched me so deeply,  that I still have the original hand written text copied by her. Once in a while; I still read it as a reminder of what I really need to do. How lovely to see (and feel) how science is fascinating and for sure, Carl Sagan has helped me to understand (and feel) that. Congratulations Mr. Sagan, wherever you are.

Post Question: Have you ever read one of the books written by Carl Sagan? Have your ever seen one of his documentaries or series? How did you like them? How do you like to read or to get information about the Universe?

Tip:
 To know more about Carl Sagan and his work, visite his official website.