Cosmos

‫Based on the tv series, this book is about science in its broadest context, how science & civilization grew up together. It's about a long journey of discovery & the forces & persons who helped shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huygens, Champollion, Lowell & Humason. It explores missions to nearby planets, the Library of Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, life's origin, the sun's death, galactic evolution & the origins of matter, suns & worlds. Sagan retraces the fifteen billion years of cosmic evolution that have transformed matter into life & consciousness, enabling the cosmos to wonder about itself. He considers the latest findings on life elsewhere & how to communicate with aliens.
Introduction
The shores of the cosmic ocean
One voice in the cosmic fugue
The harmony of worlds
Heaven and hell
Blues for a red planet
Travelers' tales
The backbone of night
Travels in space and time
The lives of the stars
The edge of forever
The persistence of memory
Encyclopaedia galactica
Who speaks for Earth?
Appendix 1. Reductio ad absurdum and the square root of two
Appendix 2. The five Pythagorean solids
For Futher Reading
Index