Carl Sagan was one of the greatest people of the 20th Century

I have always felt that.

I remember watching episodes of Cosmos with my stepdad on PBS. Here this nerdy scientist guy drabbed in a brown suit was telling me things like "There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the earth." and streaming out on scrolled paper as best they could a number so unfathomable that they couldn't even actually do it. Blew my mind. He had a kind of new age vibe but it also made a lot of SENSE. He mathematically predicted life on other planets (borrowed from a colleague at the time) that made it not only probable, but also shed light on the danger WE are in and need to address to sustain the human race. Wow.

Also, he made me think about the world and the worldhood of the world (as such). I believe if there were one pop culture person in my youth that helped me think of things in the world today, it was him.

When we lost Carl, we lost a whole lot more than just a silly "billions and billions" joke.

Yes, I own the DVD set. Yes, I miss him. The world should too.

Link to something cool.
Another cool link.