Cosmos is a well-known science book written by astronomer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan. It was published in 1980 as an accompanying book to the PBS television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which it was created alongside to support and expand on the content of the show. The book has 13 illustrated chapters, each matching one of the 13 episodes in the television series.

Some of the topics discussed in Cosmos include the shared history of science and human society, the structure and nature of the universe, human and robotic exploration of space, how cells work and the DNA that controls them, and the risks and possible future effects of nuclear war. Sagan’s main goal in writing both the book and the television series was to explain difficult scientific ideas in a way that makes them easy for anyone who wants to learn to understand. He also believed television was one of the most powerful tools for teaching, and he wanted to use this opportunity to share knowledge with people around the world.

Because of the popularity of the television series, Cosmos stayed on the Publishers Weekly best-sellers list for 50 weeks and on the New York Times Best Seller list for 70 weeks. At the time, it was the best-selling science book ever published. In 1981, it won the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book. The success of Cosmos greatly increased the attention given to science-themed books. It also helped Sagan become a more well-known writer. The book’s sequel, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, was published in 1994.

In 2013, a new edition of Cosmos was released. This version includes a foreword by Ann Druyan and an essay by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Summary

The book Cosmos has 13 chapters, which match the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series. In the original version, each chapter includes many pictures. The book covers many subjects, including Sagan’s thoughts on human history, the universe, life on Earth, scientific discoveries, and the development of astronomy over time. Sagan repeats his view that the size of the universe suggests thousands of alien civilizations may exist, but there is no clear proof that such life has ever come to Earth. He describes 15 billion years of the universe’s history and the growth of science and human societies. He explains the beginning of scientific knowledge and the scientific method, combining science with philosophy, and considers what the future of science might hold. He also shares stories about famous scientists’ lives and shows how their work contributed to the progress of modern science.

Like the television series, the book includes ideas related to the Cold War, such as hints about the dangers of self-destruction and the uselessness of the arms race.

Popularity

After it was published, Cosmos became the best-selling science book ever written in English and was the first science book to sell more than half a million copies. Its popularity was partly due to the success of a television series with the same name, but the book became a bestseller on its own, reaching many readers. Later, in the late 1980s, it was surpassed by Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time (1988). Cosmos stayed on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list for 50 weeks and on the New York Times Best Seller list for 70 weeks. During this time, it sold over 900,000 copies. Its continued popularity helped it sell about five million copies worldwide. Soon after Cosmos was published, Carl Sagan received a $2 million advance for his novel Contact. This was the largest advance ever given for a fiction book that had not yet been written. The success of Cosmos made Sagan both wealthy and famous. It also helped science books become more popular, giving the genre more readers and more opportunities. Bruce Lewenstein, a science historian from Cornell University, said that Cosmos marked a turning point for science books, showing that something new and important was happening.

After Cosmos’ success, Sagan became a well-known scientist. He appeared on many television shows, wrote a regular column for Parade magazine, and worked to make science more popular. Lewenstein also said that Cosmos helped inspire people to become scientists. Along with books like Microbe Hunters and The Double Helix, he called Cosmos one of the books that people mention as the reason they chose to become scientists. He noted that the book especially inspired many people in astronomy and physics. Sagan was also called the "most successful popularizing scientist of our time" because he reached so many different people.

The popularity of Cosmos has been used to support arguments for spending more on space exploration. In a speech, Arthur C. Clarke mentioned Cosmos in Congress, saying that money spent on ending Cold War anti-ICBM efforts should instead be used for exploring Mars.

Critical reception

Reception for Sagan's work was generally positive. In The New York Times Book Review, novelist James Michener praised Cosmos as "a cleverly written, imaginatively illustrated summary of [Sagan's]… thoughts about our universe. His style is colorful, with surprising connections between ideas." The American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson described Cosmos as "more than Carl Sagan's work." David Whitehouse of the British Broadcasting Corporation said, "There is not a book on astronomy—or any science—that comes close to the eloquence and intellectual sweep of Cosmos. If we sent just one book to distant worlds, let it be Cosmos." Kirkus Reviews called the book "Sagan at his best." Cornell News Service described it as "an overview of how science and civilization developed together." In 1981, Cosmos received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book. The U.S. Library of Congress named Cosmos as one of 88 books that shaped America.