All inquiries carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions. But I do not see how we can deal with the universe—both the outside and the inside universe—without studying it. The best way to avoid abuses is for the populace in general to be scientifically literate, to understand the implications of such investigations. In exchange for freedom of inquiry, scientists are obliged to explain their work. If science is considered a closed priesthood, too difficult and arcane for the average person to understand, the dangers of abuse are greater. But if science is a topic of general interest and concern—if both its delights and its social consequences are discussed regularly and competently in the schools, the press, and at the dinner table—we have greatly improved our prospects for learning how the world really is and for improving both it and us. (Chapter 1, “Broca’s Brain” ) Garreau, Joel (2003-07-21). "Science's Mything Links As the Boundaries of Reality Expand, Our Thinking Seems to Be Going Over the Edge". Washington Post . Retrieved 3 January 2010. Our perceptions may be distorted by training and prejudice or merely because of the limitations of our sense organs, which, of course, perceive directly but a small fraction of the phenomena of the world. Even so straightforward a question as whether in the absence of friction a pound of lead falls faster than a gram of fluff was answered incorrectly by Aristotle and almost everyone else before the time of Galileo. Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage—at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom. (Chapter 2, “Can We Know the Universe? Reflections on a Grain of Salt”) She too had found the experience transforming. How could she not? A demon had been exorcised. Several. And just when she felt more capable of love than she had ever been, she found herself alone. However, that doesn’t signify that we can’t attempt to predict the thing that another being might resemble. What of Jupiter? It is a huge planet made of gas with a lot of helium and hydrogen around the atmosphere.

a b c Lewenstein, Bruce (2002-03-08). "How Science Books Drive Public Discussion". National Institute for Standards and Technology . Retrieved 3 January 2010.Without these experimental tests, very few physicists would have accepted general relativity. There are many hypotheses in physics of almost comparable brilliance and elegance that have been rejected because they did not survive such a confrontation with experiment. In my view, the human condition would be greatly improved if such confrontations and willingness to reject hypotheses were a regular part of our social, political, economic, religious and cultural lives. ( Chapter 7, “Lovers and Madmen”) For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled. Even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven’t forgotten. The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood. We invest far-off places with a certain romance. This appeal, I suspect, has been meticulously crafted by natural selection as an essential element in our survival. Long summers, mild winters, rich harvests, plentiful game—none of them lasts forever. It is beyond our powers to predict the future. Catastrophic events have a way of sneaking up on us, of catching us unaware. Your own life, or your band’s, or even your species’ might be owed to a restless few—drawn, by a craving they can hardly articulate or understand, to undiscovered lands and new worlds.

The 1986 special edition of Cosmos features new computer animated sequences and filmed segments with Sagan, as well as new narration. It includes content from Sagan's book Comet and discussion of his theory of nuclear winter; this material was not used in subsequent television or home video releases. The special edition premiered as one marathon program on the TBS network, and was later broadcast in Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Argentina. It is much shorter than the original version, at four and a half hours, divided into six 45-minute episodes: In some respects, science has far surpassed religion in delivering awe. How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed”? Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” When you calculate it, you’ll notice that the human planet is just one of the 1022 globes that Cosmos carries. Frighteningly unimportant. Carl Sagan". EMuseum@Minnesota State University. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010 . Retrieved October 8, 2009.

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Cosmos: Bibliographical Data". Book Depository. The Book Depository International Ltd . Retrieved 3 January 2010. Pythagoras, as well as his disciples, assumed that the universe, is divine and perfect, followed by fixed laws of geometry. Everything they required was naive thinking and nothing more. Experimentation didn’t have any spot around that academic attitude. Some of the missing scenes from Cosmos episode 2". June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008.

Kosmos by Alexander von Humboldt; like Cosmos, a book that discusses the then known universe and humankind's place in it

Society corrupts the best of us. It is a little unfair, I think, to criticize a person for not sharing the enlightenment of a later epoch, but it is also profoundly saddening that such prejudices were so extremely pervasive. The question raises nagging uncertainties about which of the conventional truths of our own age will be considered unforgivable bigotry by the next. (Chapter 1, “Broca’s Brain”) The integrity of the experimenters in the face of this unexpected finding is breathtaking. (It is difficult to imagine any experiment that would convince leading practitioners of many political or religious philosophies of the superiority of a competing doctrine. ( Chapter 8, “The Future Evolution of the Brain”) As a matter of fact, it’s really huge that we’ve needed to form a unique measurement scale according to light’s pace. However, it will not be. The Soviet Union and the United States agreed on an agreement that prohibited “the eruption of nuclear guns around space” during the year 1963. Also, similar to that, the chance of the Orion starship getting to the stars became futile.

In any case, we do not advance the human cause by refusing to consider ideas that make us frightened. (Chapter 25, “The Amniotic Universe”) Once intelligent beings achieve technology and the capacity for self-destruction of their species, the selective advantage of intelligence becomes more uncertain. ( Chapter 9, “Knowledge is Our Destiny: Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Intelligence”) Sonata C-Dur Für Trompete, Oboe, Und Basso Continuo" – Gottfried Finger (Performed by Leipziger Bach-Collegium) (1:21) Whether we believe in God depends very much on what we mean by God. (Chapter 23, “A Sunday Sermon”) To me it is not in the least demeaning that consciousness and intelligence are the result of “mere” matter sufficiently complexly arranged; on the contrary, it is an exalting tribute to the subtlety of matter and the laws of Nature. ( Chapter 8, “The Future Evolution of the Brain”)When there is existence, they might occur as huge gas balloons, maybe against kilometers. They would most likely move by extracting blasts of gas, maybe develop their food via a process that is like the photosynthesis of plants here in our world. In general, human societies are not innovative. They are hierarchical and ritualistic. Suggestions for change are greeted with suspicion: they imply an unpleasant future variation in ritual and hierarchy: an exchange of one set of rituals for another, or perhaps for a less structured society with fewer rituals. And yet there are times when societies must change. “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present” was Abraham Lincoln’s description of this truth. Much of the difficulty in attempting to restructure American and other societies arises from this resistance by groups with vested interests in the status quo. Significant change might require those who are now high in the hierarchy to move downward many steps. This seems to them undesirable and is resisted. ( Chapter 8, “The Future Evolution of the Brain”) Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Performed by Mostly Mozart Orchestra) (7:53) Those at too great a distance may, I am well aware, mistake ignorance for perspective. (Introduction) The main difficulty for humans staying on Mars has been obtaining water. On Mars, there has been no available body, also, there has not been water around Mars’ atmosphere. Everything becomes more difficult still since the pressure in the atmosphere is really low, any water could boil away really more rapidly than it would in our world.