Cosmos
by Carl Sagan · first published 1980
47% recommend51% neutral2% critical
Why HN recommends it
Sagan's sweeping tour of the universe and the history of science inspired many readers, often as kids, to pursue science. It suits newcomers to cosmology who want a story-driven, philosophical introduction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This book is about science in its broadest human context, how science and civilization grew up together. It is the story of our long journey of discovery and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huygens, Champollion, Lowell and Humason. The book also explores spacecraft missions of discovery of the nearby planets, the research in the Library of ancient Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the origin of life, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies and the origins of matter, suns and worlds. The aut
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I would love to have my favorite book, "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan recreated in this same web layout. In fact, why AREN'T online books like this?
on “The Reykjavik Confessions” ↗…ADHD like me, and you haven't read this, it's the first system that's really worked for productivity for me. Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl. Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Nhat Hanh. Cosmos - Carl Sagan. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. LeGuin. The One who Walks Away from Omelas - U.K. LeGuin. Wild Seed - Octavia Butler. The Heike Monogatari - (tr. Helen Craig McCullough) “The sound…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗I had a fantastic reading year, too much to choose from: "Cosmos" - Carl Sagan "Hyperion" + "Fall of Hyperion" - Dan Simmons "Red Mars" - Kim Stanley Robinson "The Prince" - Niccolo Machiavelli
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…from conception to adulthood in minute biological detail. The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh is fantastic, if a little out of date by now. Cosmos: The Story of Cosmic Evolution, Science and Civilisation by Carl Sagan.
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗Most Highly Recommended: Cosmos - !!! The Measure of Reality - How quantification has completely changed the face of society. Very interesting stuff. This has probably been my favourite read this year. Nightfall - Interesting ideas…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…experienced at least within the BBC, and backed by the organisation. Notably, little from either national/public broadcasting or commercial production has even approached it. My short list includes Sagan's Cosmos, Burke's own The Day the Universe Changed, Ken Burns. Daniel Yergin's The Prize. And of course Kenneth Clarke's Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man, which had paved the way for Burke…
on “Connections by James Burke (1978)” ↗It is hard to say what my favorite book is. But the book that impacted my life most was Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Read it. My favorite authors and playwrights are (in no meaningful order) Michael Lewis, Carl Sagan, Siddhartha Gautama, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, Ayn Rand,…
on “Ask YC: favorite books” ↗1984: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0451524934 Cosmos: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0345331354 Tao Teh Ching: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0877735425
on “Ask HN: Books that changed your life?” ↗Fiction: 1. Life of Pi - Yann Martel 2. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas : An awesome closeup of revenge 3. The complete Sherlock Holmes series : 'nuff said. Non fiction: 1. Cosmos - Carl Sagan : I fell in love with science post-reading this book. 2. October Sky - Homer Hickham : A real life story of how a group of boys in a backwater town build a rocket that changes their lives.…
on “What are great books for boys?” ↗1.) Bhagavad Gita "Celestial Song" - Hindu bible 2.) Cosmos - Carl Sagan 3.) Alchemist - Paulo Coelho 4.) Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill
on “Ask HN: What books have helped make who you are today?” ↗…are completely separate. If you're interested in cosmology, there are a ton of fascinating popular science books on the topic, and research is very active and ongoing. As an introduction, I recommend Cosmos by Carl Sagan. It's a bit outdated these days, but the main points hold and it's a fascinating read from start to finish. Alternatively, if you prefer video, check out Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with…
on “Rosetta finds comet's water vapour to be significantly different from Earth's” ↗> With this in mind, we can view our future with some certainty. Something big is going to smash into us, sooner or later, and probably sooner. I started reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan a week ago and he discusses the Tunguska event for several pages. It's an amazing book that I wish I had studied long ago. Had I not read that book, this statement would have instilled an…
on “The Tunguska Event” ↗Surprised not to have seen it elsewhere, but I remember telling my mom that we began studying astronomy in grade school (5th or 6th?) and she gave me Cosmos by Carl Sagan. I didn't know there was a TV series for it at the time, where reading it truly blew my mind that there were other galaxies and stellar objects beyond the Milky Way, and how happenstance…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…The Frankl book is excellent for readers from any century, it will be a future classic on the scale of Epictetus, unless suffering is someday conquered by future people. My top book for young minds: Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
on “Books to a Young Man – 10 Titles to Kickstart a Good Life” ↗Cosmos by Carl Sagan, which I read I think in college. It changed the way I look at reality, giving me a much more materialistic perspective on life, meaning that I started to require material evidence as pre-requisite…
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗