title: Cosmos
author:  Carl Sagan 
description: <i>Cosmos</i> was the first science TV blockbuster, and Carl Sagan was its (human) star. By the time of Sagan's death in 1996, the series had been seen by half a billion people; Sagan was perhaps the best-known scientist on the planet. Explaining how the series came about, Sagan recalled:
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # **“Carl Sagan is the most effective  
  and popular advocate of the wonders of  
  science in the United States.”**  
  — ** _The New York Times Books Review_**
  
  
  
  
  
  “He not only can make complex scientific matters understandable to the general
  reader, but does so in entrancing ways as well.”
  
  
  —Associated Press
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Sagan can write about anything … and seem as if he learned what he knows
  while playing in the sandbox.”
  
  
  — _The New York Times_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Sagan has a love affair going with the universe.…You cannot come away unmoved
  from an encounter with him. He is full of intensity, of fascination, of
  courtesy, and of a lust for accuracy and truth.…Sagan blows through my head
  like a tornado, filling me with questions and with joy.”
  
  
  — _The Detroit News_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Sagan overwhelms us, overpowering our senses.…[He] sweeps us off our simple
  planet earth and into interplanetary space.”
  
  
  — _The San Diego Union_
  
  
  
  
  
  # **“Devastating, balanced, unforgettable.”**  
  — _Scie