Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

The paperback has horrid, unreadable text, which is clearly supposed to be supported by colour illustrations. Buy a secondhand original hardback edition: it’s a larger size, an easier read and supported by over 250 full colour images. The same issue exists with Kenneth Clark’s book based on his Civilisation TV show.

No images, poor formatting like an original's been scanned and reprinted. Not the original edition. Requested a refund from Amazon.

This is an epic tale - exploring, understanding and describing the Universe in its entirety. This book is a delight to read, and it succeeds in making science lively and engaging. The book was first published in 1983, as a tie-in to the TV documentary series  Carl Sagan's Cosmos [DVD] [1980 ]. Both book and series follow the same general structure - and both are concerned with illuminating the nature of the cosmos.Sagan writes majestically, explaining otherwise complex issues and problems in a manner that makes them far more easily comprehensible. Everything from the origins of the universe to the formation of galaxies, from the processes that build planets to the evolution of life, is discussed eloquently. Sagan describes the cosmos in an imaginative way, drawing-in the reader and retaining attention throughout. This is as far away as possible from a 'dry' scientific text ... instead it entices the reader's fascination and clearly shows the cosmos for what it truly is: awesome.This is the perfect book for anyone who's interested in finding out more about physics, cosmology, astronomy and astrobiology. It's a fantastic introductory book, and is suitable for both adults and older teenagers. I've read through it a few times, and it's my favourite 'science' book. I highly recommend it.

Cosmos (Carl Sagan)Turn on any TV these days and there will be channels with one of more science , history or arts programmes.Some 26 years ago (1980) these programmes were relatively rare and a classic 13 one hour episode science programme entitled the Cosmos was presented as a personal view by one Carl Sagan ( sometime participant of various NASA space programmes and cosmological investigations then Director of Planetary studies at Cornell University) . An accompanying book to the series was also written and published. It covered right up until the Voyager mission views of Jupiter and Saturn in 1977-1979. (Voyager 2 – still active in 2016 – has just passed Pluto and left the conventional Solar system – not bad for 1975 technology. Its onboard power source – a mini nuclear reactor – should last another 10 years)The hardback book contains both script and illustrations and can be obtained as good quality second hand ,for very reasonable prices.A book allows stopping , pausing , thinking , reversing and rereading the text but for those who want the full visual experience ( film/TV presentation being intrinsically different to books with the sight , sounds , narration and a flowing story line to hold the attention) . The TV series had updates added some 10 years later and in 2000 , a DVD transfer was released. The TV series also featured a music soundtrack taken from “Heaven and hell” ( (Vangelis 1975) . Obviously there have been many advances / updates in the last 30 or so years but I can still recommend both as an example of the thoughts and presentation of the times . Carl Sagan , a great communicator , sadly died in 1996Rate 5 star as classic examples of their time covering the Cosmos ( as it seemed then) . The series ended very topically with a view of our the earth , and the threats faced by the latter - comparing the possible outcomes of irresponsible misuse of the planets resources to the planetary hell of Venus and the cold desolation of Mars.(Note there has been a recent re casting of the original series by Neil de Grasse Tyson ( written in conjunction with Carl Sagan’s widow) – also available on DVD and Blu Ray. The content is more up to date but many still prefer the older Sagan version with less reliance on CGI.)

One of the most beautiful books I've ever read. I love non-fiction but Carl Sagan takes it a step further - it almost feels like reading a poem at times.Beautifully, passionately written. It'll capture your attention and wonder why on Earth your science teachers weren't ever that inspiring.

Ah. The inimitable Carl Sagan. Sadly missed. A great man and a great book. If you've never read any Carl Sagan, this is a fine place to start. Highly recommended. I first encountered Carl Sagan as a teenager when he presented the Christmas Lectures for the Royal Institute. I was greatly impressed by his calm manner and his ability to explain complex concepts to the masses. A brilliant author.