假期的时候，为了消磨时间，去图书馆借了一些书来看。在天文部，偶然借了Carl Sagan写的Cosmos。虽然这主要是一本天文学的书，但是它不像其他天文学书籍一样艰涩难懂。而且，它所包含的内容不只限于天文学，还包括了人类学、生物学、数学、历史、文学等方面，让读者从不同角度去思考这宇宙，重新认识我们所存在的空间。其中非常突出的一点，就是Drake Equation和Fermi Paradox。他们让我们在脑海中探索，在我们所认知的宇宙中，是否有其他文明的社会？如果没有的话，那小小的人类，是浩大宇宙的唯一居民吗？
之后又借了他写的The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligenc。作者同样从多方面讨论人类智慧的演变，进化。原来，人类的头脑有一部分和爬虫类的脑袋没什么不同，而我们社会的习惯，就是把这面压抑下来，但是，种种的仪式、儿童喜欢重复同一个动作，都是受了爬虫类祖先的影响。
打从心里佩服这名学者。我不称他为科学家，虽然他的专长在于科学。那是因为他就像文艺复兴时代的学者们，不在科学与艺术之间划下不可逾越的界限。反而，他融合两者的优点，用优美的语言让科学成为大众的遗产，让更多人惊叹于大自然的奥妙。
在wikipedia搜寻关于他的资料时，才知道他在十年前，62岁的时候，过世了。我不禁猜想，上天不让他在世上逗留太久，是怕他泄漏太多宇宙中所蕴含的秘密吗？Prometheus偷了天神的火，造福人群，自己却受尽永恒的折磨。Sagan在去世前被血癌折腾。也许，这就是他把人们的视野照亮所要付出的代价。
1990年的情人节当天，Sagan利用Voyager 1，拍下了Pale Blue Dot这张照片。我想，这就是他的情人，他一生穷追不舍的挚爱。
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. ... There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
---Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
之后又借了他写的The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligenc。作者同样从多方面讨论人类智慧的演变，进化。原来，人类的头脑有一部分和爬虫类的脑袋没什么不同，而我们社会的习惯，就是把这面压抑下来，但是，种种的仪式、儿童喜欢重复同一个动作，都是受了爬虫类祖先的影响。
打从心里佩服这名学者。我不称他为科学家，虽然他的专长在于科学。那是因为他就像文艺复兴时代的学者们，不在科学与艺术之间划下不可逾越的界限。反而，他融合两者的优点，用优美的语言让科学成为大众的遗产，让更多人惊叹于大自然的奥妙。
在wikipedia搜寻关于他的资料时，才知道他在十年前，62岁的时候，过世了。我不禁猜想，上天不让他在世上逗留太久，是怕他泄漏太多宇宙中所蕴含的秘密吗？Prometheus偷了天神的火，造福人群，自己却受尽永恒的折磨。Sagan在去世前被血癌折腾。也许，这就是他把人们的视野照亮所要付出的代价。
1990年的情人节当天，Sagan利用Voyager 1，拍下了Pale Blue Dot这张照片。我想，这就是他的情人，他一生穷追不舍的挚爱。
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. ... There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
---Carl Sagan (1934-1996)
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