Carl Edward Sagan - Biography.

Carl Edward Sagan - Biography. American astronomer, author, and educator Birth November 9, 1934 Death December 20, 1996 Place of New York City, New York Birth Known For Popularizing science through his lectures, television series, and books Exploring the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence Career Late 1950s-1990s Served as an advisor on all of NASA's main planetary missions 1960 Received his Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Chicago Early 1960s Supplied the theoretical model that proved Venus's surface is extremely hot; his conclusions were verified by later NASA missions to Venus 1960s Built on and expanded previous work done by American chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey on the origin of life on Earth 1968 Joined Cornell University as director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies 1970 Became professor of astronomy and space science at Cornell University 1976 Was appointed to the position of David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University 1978 Received the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, for his book The Dragons of Eden, which explores the brain and human intelligence 1980 Cowrote and hosted the 13-episode public television series Cosmos 1980 Cofounded the Planetary Society, which under his leadership became the largest space-interest group in the world 1980s Studied possible atmospheric effects of nuclear war and formulated the nuclear winter theory in collaboration with American scientists Anne and Paul Ehrlich 1994 Received the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences Did You Sagan started college at age sixteen, earning four degrees including a Ph.D. by the time he was twenty-six. He received more than twenty Know honorary degrees before his death in 1996. Sagan helped design the interstellar messages carried by the Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2 spacecraft. Over half a billion people in sixty countries watched Sagan's public television series Cosmos. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.