Carl Sagan and astrology

In several blogs yesterday, the 10th anniversary of the death of Carl Sagan was remembered with tributes from science fans, and self-proclaimed sceptics. It's something of an anomaly that he is one of my own heroes. He was never a friend of astrology, he was a critic of so-called pseudo-science. Perhaps because I have doubts of my own about certain areas of astrological doctrine, I understood his views to some extent. I sense though that, deep down, he stood not too far away from my own beliefs. One day it might emerge that he and the astrolgers were both partially correct.

I wanted to add my own tribute to the 'blogathon' tribute out there, but felt that it would be unwelcome. Here - a day late - using his own words, is my tribute.

From the last chapter of 'Cosmos'

"And we, we who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos, we have begun at least to wonder about our origins -- star stuff contemplating the stars, organized collections of ten billion billion billion atoms, contemplating the evolution of nature, tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness here on the planet earth, and perhaps throughout the cosmos. Our loyalties are to the species and to the planet. We speak for earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves but also to that cosmos ancient and vast from which we spring!"

and from "The Cosmic Connection"

The fate of individual human beings may not now be connected in a deep way with the rest of the universe, but the matter out of which each of us is made is intimately tied to processes that occurred immense intervals of time and enormous distances in space a way from us. Our Sun is a second or third-generation star. All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star stuff. Our atomic and molecular connection with the rest of the universe is a real and unfanciful cosmic hookup. As we explore our surroundings by telescope and space vehicle, other hookups may emerge. There may be a network of intercommunicating extraterrestrial civilizations to which we may link up tomorrow, for all we know. The undelivered promise of astrology-that the stars impel our individual characters - will not be satisfied by modern astronomy. But the deep human need to seek and understand our connection with the universe is a goal well within our grasp. "