The Pulitzer Prize Winner
Dr. Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offering his vivid and startling insight into the brain of man and beast, the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most haunting legends--and their amazing links to recent discoveries.
"A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, to the day before yesterday...It's a delight." -The New York Times
“How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and elegant book? . . . He talks about all kinds of things: the why of the pain of human childbirth . . . the reason for sleeping and dreaming . . . chimpanzees taught to communicate in deaf and dumb language . . . the definition of death . . . cloning . . . computers . . . intelligent life on other planets. . . . Fascinating . . . delightful.”—The Boston Globe
“In some lost Eden where dragons ruled, the foundations of our intelligence were laid. . . . Carl Sagan takes us on a guided tour of that lost land. . . . Fascinating . . . entertaining . . . masterful.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Introductory music from the original score for COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey composed by Alan Silvestri, used with permission from Cosmos Studios, Inc. and Chappers Music. All rights reserved. Special thanks to Fuzzy Planets, Inc.
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“A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billion years ago, to the day before yesterday…It’s a delight.”
— New York Times
“How can I persuade every intelligent person to read this important and eloquent book?…Fascinating…Delightful.”
— Boston GlobeBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Carl Sagan (1934–1996) was professor of astronomy and space sciences and director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft expeditions, for which he received the NASA medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement. He received the Pulitzer Prize and the highest awards of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, as well as many other awards for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment. His book Cosmos, the companion book to his Emmy– and Peabody Award–winning television series of the same name, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and the bestselling science book ever published in the English language, and his bestselling novel Contact was turned into a major motion picture.
JD Jackson is a theater professor, aspiring stage director, and award-winning audiobook narrator. He is a classically trained actor, and his television and film credits include roles on House, ER, Law & Order, Hack, Sherrybaby, Diary of a City Priest, and Lucky Number Slevin. He is the recipient of more than a dozen Earphones Awards for narration and an Odyssey Honor for G. Neri’s Ghetto Cowboy, and he was also named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year for 2012 and 2013. An adjunct professor at Los Angeles Southwest College, he has an MFA in theater from Temple University.
Ann Druyan is an author, writer, and television producer. She was the co-author with Sagan of the New York Times bestseller Comet and was co-writer with him of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. She also served as creative director of NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Message Project, designing music, images, and ideas for possible alien civilizations which was placed aboard the Voyager 1 and 2 interstellar spacecraft. She has been the recipient of several awards, including the title of “Humanist Laureate” by the International Academy of Humanism. The asterooid 4970 Druyan was named after her.