Carl Sagan is a personal hero of mine. He is considered by many to be the grandfather of promoting science literacy to the masses. He was an inspiration and mentor to many of the scientists today who have taken up his mantle of promoting science literacy to the world. Scientists like Brian Cox, Michio Kaku and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Dr. Tyson later next year will be re-launching Carl Sagan’s famous series “Cosmos” adding a more modern twist along with his own personal touches.

Carl Sagan unfortunately died in 1996, after a long fight with an aggressive form of leukemia. Sagan will go down in history as one of the most influential scientists in American history. Not because of a specific discovery, or breakthrough in science, but for making science and the idea of skeptical inquiry appealing to everyone. An idea that has been passed on to the scientists that I have mentioned, and a tradition that I hope will be passed on by the next generation of influential scientists.

If you have the opportunity to listen, watch, or read anything written by Carl Sagan do it. I swear that once you read, see, or hear anything that he does you will never be the same. You will never think of things the same way again. He truly was the great communicator, because of his ability to make complicated subjects like Astrophysics, easy to understand.