I really loved the book, too. And I totally get what you say about Sagan radiating joy. Did you see any episodes of Cosmos (his PBS miniseries)? Have you read any of his nonfiction? I went on a Sagan binge a few years ago. Here are a few of my favourite quotes:
‘With a few exceptions, secrecy is deeply incompatible with democracy and with science.’ ——Carl Sagan
‘We imagine her [a female hamster examining male hamsters in harnesses in an experiment], steely-eyed, slowly looking the males over head to tail in their kinky leather outfits.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘The testicles of a sparrow are about a millimeter long and weigh about a milligram. (That’s one of the reasons you never hear that someone’s hung like a sparrow.)’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘In many species, this [estrus and heat] doesn’t happen often and doesn’t last long; cows, for example, are interested in sex for about six hours every three weeks. Cows don’t date much.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘Some human cultures have sex in private and eat in public, some do it the other way around; some live with their aged relatives, some abandon them, and some eat them; some institute rigid rules that even toddlers must obey, and some let children do almost anything they want; some bury their dead, some burn their dead, and some set them out for the birds to eat; some use cowrie shells for money, some use metal, some paper, and some do without money altogether; some have no gods, some have one god, some have many gods.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘Females in estrus are especially attractive in the early morning, probably because of the long and stressful celibacy imposed on the males by the necessity of having to sleep at night.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors [If I’m remembering correctly, this was about chimpanzees.]
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Date: 2004-08-17 03:58 am (UTC)‘With a few exceptions, secrecy is deeply incompatible with democracy and with science.’ ——Carl Sagan
‘We imagine her [a female hamster examining male hamsters in harnesses in an experiment], steely-eyed, slowly looking the males over head to tail in their kinky leather outfits.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘The testicles of a sparrow are about a millimeter long and weigh about a milligram. (That’s one of the reasons you never hear that someone’s hung like a sparrow.)’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘In many species, this [estrus and heat] doesn’t happen often and doesn’t last long; cows, for example, are interested in sex for about six hours every three weeks. Cows don’t date much.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘Some human cultures have sex in private and eat in public, some do it the other way around; some live with their aged relatives, some abandon them, and some eat them; some institute rigid rules that even toddlers must obey, and some let children do almost anything they want; some bury their dead, some burn their dead, and some set them out for the birds to eat; some use cowrie shells for money, some use metal, some paper, and some do without money altogether; some have no gods, some have one god, some have many gods.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
‘Females in estrus are especially attractive in the early morning, probably because of the long and stressful celibacy imposed on the males by the necessity of having to sleep at night.’ ——Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors [If I’m remembering correctly, this was about chimpanzees.]