Day Tripping: November 9
Billions upon Billions
From as far back as he could remember, Carl Sagan knew his ‘inner war’ came from his parents’ opposing sensibilities. Born in 1934 into a Reform Jewish home in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, Carl marveled at his father's sense of wonder. At the same time, it was his mother Rachel who was analytical and an intellectual.
Sagan felt the defining moment in his life came at the age of four when his parents took him to the New York World’s Fair. It was there he experienced the America of Tomorrow exhibit showing highways and motorcars and huge skyscrapers.
After earning his Ph.D., Sagan worked with NASA consulting with astronauts before they went to space. He also maintained a Top Secret clearance with the US Air Force.
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”
Carl Sagan made science popular during his career with his engaging personality and hid descriptive abilities. But the science community as a whole did not embrace his ideas. He was often dismissed as fanciful and was accused of being more of a showman.
But Carl Sagan was also prescient. In his 1995 book Demon-Haunted World, he wrote:
Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.
Carl Sagan’s words resonate today.
Today is:
Go to an Art Museum Today Day — A place of wonder and human accomplishment.
Musical Ride
The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published in 1967 featuring a John Lennon on the cover. Inside, publisher Jann Wenner explains that the magazine is intended to be as much a newspaper as a magazine. The first artists covered were David Crosby, The Who, and Country Joe & the Fish.
Interesting Notes
This day in 1989 marks the end of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain when officials opened the gates of the Berlin Wall. For the first time in decades, East German citizens were allowed to freely cross checkpoints into West Berlin.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Stieg Larsson is best known for his Millenium Trilogy, beginning with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which was published posthumously in 2008. Larsson died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004.
Notable Births
1841 — King Edward VII: “It doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you don’t frighten the horses.”
1951 — Lou Ferrigno: “The truth is, I’ve been the Hulk my whole life.”
K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan
All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:
The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present
A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping