Carl Sagan

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Sagan was inquisitive about nature from a young age and loved to go to the city’s libraries and museums. At the University of Chicago, Sagan earned an M.S. in physics before earning a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics. Sagan lectured at Harvard and later at Cornell, eventually directing the Laboratory for Planetary Studies and the Center for Radio Physics and Space Research at Cornell. Additionally, Sagan worked as an advisor to NASA and contributed to many robotic spacecraft missions. Sagan popularized science with books like Cosmos and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Dragons of Eden. Sagan also wrote the bestselling novel Contact.