Pale Blue Dot

"Pale Blue Dot" is a photograph of the Earth taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft at the range of 3.7 billion miles. It shows the Earth as a minute speck nearly lost in the glare of the Sun.

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) is a non-fiction book by Carl Sagan. It is the sequel to Cosmos and was inspired by the "Pale Blue Dot" photograph, for which Sagan provides a sobering description.[1]

The book has three parts. The first part looks at the claims made throughout history that Earth and the human species are unique. The second part describes the scientific discoveries made throughout the solar system, and examines reasons commonly offered for human spaceflight. In the final part, Sagan suggests that the exploration and settlement of other worlds is essential for the long-term survival of the human species and Earth life.

See also: Space and survival

Contents

• Wanderers: an introduction

1. You are here
2. Aberrations of light
3. The great demotions
4. A universe not made for us
5. Is there intelligent life on Earth?
6. The triumph of Voyager
7. Among the moons of Saturn
8. The first new planet
9. An American ship at the frontiers of the solar system
10. Sacred black
11. Evening and morning star
12. The ground melts
13. The gift of Apollo
14. Exploring other worlds and protecting this one
15. The gates of the wonder world open
16. Scaling heaven
17. Routine interplanetary violence
18. The marsh of Camarina
19. Remaking the planets
20. Darkness
21. To the sky!
22. Tiptoeing through the Milky Way

• References
• Acknowledgments
• Index

Details

Sagan, Carl, 1934-
Pale blue dot : a vision of the human future in space
1st ed.
New York : Random House, c1994.
xviii, 429 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN 0679438416

External links

• Sagan's rationale for human spaceflight Article about Carl Sagan and Pale Blue Dot
• Spaceflight or Extinction: Carl Sagan Excerpts from Pale Blue Dot